


A Phantom's Trilogy

by TheSilentChloey



Series: Claymore Alternate Universes [5]
Category: Claymore (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-14 19:55:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 28,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28800945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSilentChloey/pseuds/TheSilentChloey
Series: Claymore Alternate Universes [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1164590





	1. Prologue: The Silent Chloey

I stood on the peaks near Lido and sighed. It had been almost two years since any yoma had been in the area surrounding Lido, Parabo and Paburo both having no problems. It didn’t add up and I wondered what was going on. I had felt Miria’s yoki heightened in a near awakened state and pulled back by a warrior that felt like my student Teresa, but there was nothing else to go by. Kate stood near me as we regarded the land together. Chris was out in the valley chasing some deer towards us so that we could feed Lido for the coming winter. I wrapped the cloak around me and think of what I could sense. Many yoki were in Rabona and Miria had come even closer to becoming an awakened being. I wondered why she’d gone so close and I shuddered with thoughts that I didn’t like. Kate yawned loudly and brought me back to the present, just in time as well as the frightened dear raced up towards us. I gripped my hunting knife and prepared to kill the last doe, she was injured and she wasn’t carrying young. So far things had been peaceful, calm and quiet until the deer arrived. I flung my knife with years of practice and warrior’s precision, the doe that I wanted was felled swiftly and painlessly. Kate’s jaws snapped around the other doe, and old one that also had no young and the rest of the herd bounded away. I felt his yoki, but he was good at suppression so it was hard to tell exactly how close Chris was. I pulled my knife out of the doe and I felt his arms around me,  
“You knew I was coming,” Chris sighed in to my ear, “so I failed to surprise you Chloey.”  
“Like always.” I murmured, leaning back in to his embrace, my eyes closing contentedly, thinking of how we met when Chris sighed,  
“We should get back.” he sounded annoyed and I turned to face him,  
“Why?” I asked, surprised,  
“Well, Marchello wanted to see me about something,” he looked at me apologetically, “I have a feeling it means a trip.”  
“And no I’m not letting you go alone while there are Organization warriors wondering about!” I cried fear creeping in to my voice, oddly loud against the peaceful setting of the mountain air. He sighed and lifted up the now dead doe,  
“We won’t have much choice Chloey,” he looked at me again and then sighed, “besides I won’t take that long.”  
I shot him an annoyed glance and he sighed but said nothing. He knew that I didn’t like it when we were apart for any length of time.  
  
We entered Lido and I saw Meg being played with by a couple of brave girls. The two had been trying to put brightly coloured bows in Meg’s chin length hair with little success.  
“Girls!” their father scolded them, “How many times have I told you not to annoy Lady Megan,”  
Meg snorted and said, “Well Lord Rufus, I don’t mind it when your girls play with my hair, and by the way the name’s Meg, not Megan, please do take care to remember it.” she laughed loudly and the two girls squealed,  
“Let’s try the purple bow next!”  
“Wow, you two are as lively as ever.”  
“Lady Claire!” they cried in unison,  
“Claire, Meg,” Chris called, and they both looked towards us  
“I can smell it, you’ve got some meat right.” Meg stood up carefully and the girls ran over to me,  
“Hello Lady Chloey!” they chorused, hugging me around the middle happily.  
“Hello Lily, Octavia.” I greeted them both and they squealed in delight. I had been in their lives from the moment their mother and father were both born, and a look at Rufus revealed that he was worried about something,  
“Rufus,” Chris picked up on it too, “what seems to be the problem?”  
“It’s Jillian,” he said sadly, “she’s not well.”  
“I’ll see to her.” I said softly,  
“Lady Chloey…” Rufus began and then he closed his mouth. I had been the one that had known that his daughters were coming because Jillian’s scent was different. Though Rufus knew what I was like about those sorts of things. Chris allowed Meg and Claire to take the deer to prepare for the other deLupia family, for Marchello’s father Lord Stephen and Marchello himself. Chris and I were rarely apart and it certainly wasn’t something that we enjoyed a lot. I was worried though. Rufus looked ill himself, like he’d been losing weight, he was quite thin now, his moustache looking more hinted with grey now than a few weeks ago. His hair also thinner and greying, he was going to be bald before too long. I walked to the Deleon’s house. I knocked and Rufus’ younger sister, Teresa opened the door,  
“Lady Chloey, Lord Chris,” she was relieved to see us, “thank goodness I was beginning to worry.”  
We followed her upstairs and a familiar scent hit my nose,  
“It looks like you’re going to have another one Jillian.” I say calmly,  
Jillian sits up in the bed and her chocolate brown eyes widen in surprise, “Lady Chloey, Lord Chris.”  
Her face is flushed and she looks exhausted, her dark red hair was sticking to the sides of her face and down her neck. She looked like she wasn’t well at all. I walk to her bedside and gently take her hand in mine. Her hands were slightly larger than mine and she was more like a lady than I was, but that didn’t matter. I knew what I could smell and it was the same as when she had the twins. She looks at me for a while and then sighs. She leans back in to the pillows and says softly, “I should rest up then.” and falls asleep.  
  
After we leave, I hear Teresa telling Rufus that he might be a father again and I see an expression on Chris’ face. I look away quickly not wanting to invite conversation. I knew what he would have said. I knew it and I didn’t want to go there, I didn’t want to talk about the years of fruitless trying and the hope that he had about it. I didn’t want to go in to it.  
  
We arrived just as Meg and Claire finished packing the meat. I checked to make sure that it was packed correctly for when Marchello arrived to collect his share. I found it odd that Lord Stephen didn’t want to pick his meat up the same time as Marchello, but I didn’t complain. Lord Stephen arrived and collected his meat and left without his usual happy carefree chatter and I looked at Chris curiously. He shrugged and I sighed. It looked like Lord Stephen and Marchello had yet another falling out. It was the only explanation that I had. I felt saddened but I showed nothing. Marchello arrived with his usual high and mighty personality; he entered the room like he owed the house, servants fluttering around him as if to obey some unspoken command. I instinctively hid behind Chris. I hated Marchello when he was like this, and it was best that I stayed out of his way. Marchello cleared his throat,  
“I wanted to see you Lord Christopher,” I shuddered at his presumptuous tone but Marchello ploughed on, “I have need of some gifts to be delivered to Rabona, and I think it wisest that you go to Rabona and deliver them for me the servants will come by later to leave them in your safe hands.”  
“Of course, Sir Marchello.” Chris replied, I grabbed his hand and poked my head from behind his shoulders to actually look at my oversized cousin. I felt sorry for the servants that he had with him…it looked like they were well cared for, but a quick look at their faces told a different story. I knew that none of them wanted to be here and I quickly deduced that he’d been carried over here again. Like the ruler he deemed himself to be.  
  
Marchello was a large man, both in height and in his weight. He wore his hair short and looked like a pig with short hair on its head. He often spoke like he knew more than everyone in Lido, and was often arguing with the rest of the council about things that he knew that they didn’t. I hated the fact that he ordered everyone around like they were below him. It didn’t matter though, I thought to myself. He knew better than to try me in the council meetings. I was often the last vote needed to allow new laws in and I often joined those that opposed Marchello's new laws. So far not one of them had been passed thanks to a select few individuals that disliked what the laws would do to Lido in the long run. He knew better than to try the patience of me, the one who had been on the council since before he was even born, having lifted Lido up many times from the depth of near destruction. He knew better than to try me. It was rare that I lost my cool, but when I did, my nickname became rather ironic.  
  
I watched as he left and heaved a sigh of relief. Chris sighed as the door closed and he looked at me, I knew what he was thinking and we went upstairs out of ear shot from Meg and Claire. I wasn’t going to let him go alone. Not this time. I made sure that it was just us and not the two prying ears that sometimes decided that they needed to know what was going on.

~*~

The horses’ hooves clopped as we guided them in to the nearest town. Both Chris and I had taken yoki suppressants and our eyes were coloured. To my surprise Chris’ eyes were a beautiful dark brown colour, which was quite rare around Lido. My eyes had returned to their original blue and it was rather strange seeing them that way after so many years of them being silver. My sword was hidden from view and Chris’ was on his back like normal, a gesture that wasn’t unusual where we were travelling to. Chris was leading while Kate was following my black horse. Chris’ horse, Chip was grey and was larger than mine was because he was taller than I was. My horse Gineve was a lady’s horse, her long mane rested on the left of her neck, my cloak covering part of her back while my long purple dress covered her left side. Chris held a lead to make sure that she kept moving forward and I wanted nothing more than to sit on her properly. I found it hard to ride her like this, with my whole body resting on just one side of her. I would have rather sat like Chris, but as a lady I couldn’t. I didn’t want to draw attention to my claymore either; it was hidden within my cloak and if I sat like he did on the horse it would have shown up. I sigh and hold on to what reins I was allowed to hold, my right leg dangling uselessly on Gineve’s left side. Parabo was three days behind us, and I could still clearly sense Meg and Claire. I could sense a good deal of yoki in Rabona as well, though it was another day of hard travelling ahead. I could still detect yoki despite the suppressant’s main effect of supposedly suppressing that ability of the half yoma. Chris was travelling totally blind as I thought would happen; if he was alone he wouldn’t have sensed what I could minutely sense. The horses were starting to get tired, but I was beginning to get worried. We hadn’t seen a single yoma on the way to Rabona…not a single one…I felt uneasy. Something was going on and I didn’t like it one bit. All the strange yoki was driving me insane and I was sure that I was going to have my head done in one day.  
  
 _Chris stood in the doorway, with some clothes resting on the bed. I walked towards him, worried,  
“Chris.” I had to choose my words carefully, I knew that he didn’t want me coming with him in to danger, but I was worried about the trip and I wanted to make sure that I was with him the whole way,  
“Chloey,” he turned to look at me and I realised that I was still in my leather hunting outfit,  
“I don’t like the idea of you going alone.” I look down at the ground, cover blown entirely, as I said what really should have been hidden better within my own words but as always the truth flew out of my mouth and I couldn’t find it in me to hide my intentions.  
Chris sighed and he walked over to me,  
“You really are worried about what’s going on aren’t you?” he sighed,  
I looked in to his eyes and guiltily nodded,  
“We haven’t got much time,” I say quietly, “you know as well as I do what bandits are like in this area.”  
He looks at me and he sighs again,  
“I just…”  
“I know,” he says pulling me in to his arms, “I know precious.”  
I nestle deeply in to his gentle embrace and I hear him sigh again,  
“We’ll need to be ready at dawn,” he said as he let me go, “it won’t kill you to look like a lady Chloey.”  
I grimace but he is grinning as if thoughts are in his mind that he finds amusing,  
“Do I have to wear _that _dress?” I asked, hoping that I could at least wear something comfortable, but it wasn’t to be for me at least  
“Yes,” said Chris, “Rabona is the holy city and you shouldn’t be in anything less, I know you heard what Lord Stephen said about it.”  
I sighed and went to look at what clothes I had. The dresses were long and most of them made me feel awkward. I look through the dresses intent on finding one that I was comfortable in when Chris’ arms were around me again,  
“I think you should wear the purple one,” he says calmly, “The one that Lord Stephen’s wife, Lady Maria gave to you three Christmases ago.”  
I pull out the purple dress and I sigh,  
“I guess I could, but I’ll need to hide that _thing _._ _”  
He sighs but says nothing, I knew that he understood as well as I did what I meant by the comment. Even though the others thought theirs were hard to hide I took the cake, with Meg and Claire being unable to compete with me in the slightest, though they were sure that my size must have made it worse when I was made in to a half yoma. I sighed inwardly and continued my thought, “and I’ll need help getting it on,” I add, and I hear a chuckle as I pull off my hunting outfit. It seemed that Chris was thinking of something that amused himself again. I knew he did like to tease me from time to time, but I hoped that he wasn’t being too serious.  
  
Once I have the amour like parts off my arms and legs I begin on the basic short leather skirt, unhooking it from the main shirt part of the outfit and unbutton the top from my waist to the middle of my back when Chris’ hands do the rest of the top and I sigh inwardly. The shirt falls to the ground and it isn’t long before I am shaking. Unlike my comrades my scar was healed but ugly. It was black and difficult to hide it ran from my neck to my stomach. I walked across the room and I calmly picked out the one thing that hid it. I was once again wearing my Organization emblem. I put on my night gown and Chris and I both went to bed to rest up for the trip ahead._  
  
Our horses’ hooves clopped as we continued our journey. Kate trotted alongside us and was more than happy to be running again. She had wanted to stretch her legs since we’d not travelled far from Lido in a long time. I smiled and kept my hood half up while Chris calmly led us. Kate howled a few times and Gineve wasn’t the slightest bit worried. Some humans were wondering near the town and as we got closer I could hear what they were saying,  
“…Apparently they’ve got a queen.” some human said,  
“Oh, you mean Reine Miria Victoire de Beauharnais Malaga, the Silver Eyed Witch?” another said, “Well, yeah, Rabona’s ruled by one…who’d have thought that silver eyed witches were actually able to do more than fighting?”  
“Watch your mouths!” an old man said, “I’ll bet that those travellers are nobles.”  
“Excuse me,” Chris spoke to the humans and they all flinched noticeably, “I would like to know what the situation is in Rabona.”  
“Uhm..ah…that’s nothing that we should speak of,” said the old man, “Now you two youths get back to work now!”  
I looked at Chris and he looked back at me confused, that the humans were behaving so odd; it made me even more uneasy, Chris for his part was equally worried and the look on his face said as much. It said, ‘ _please don’t tell that you are thinking what I’m thinking right now, please_ ’. I lower my head and I hear him sigh.  
“Strange humans.” he muttered and guided Chip onwards.  
  
  
A night’s ride brought us to Rabona as the sun was rising. The horse’s hooves were now making more clomping noises on the road as they walked, the road now turning from a plain dirt track to a smoothly stone paved path wide enough to fit four horse drawn carriages side by side with ease. I had my hood pulled up and simply allowed Gineve to be guided by Chris. The guards at the gate stop us long enough for Chris to state the nature of our trip and wave us on. I tense up as I feel many yoki within Rabona, none of which is yoma yoki, but the yoki of warriors. I shiver and work at getting my yoki even lower just to be sure about it, but there is no mistaking it. There were at least thirty or more yoki in Rabona. I have a strange feeling that something is going on and I think Chris himself wanted to end the trip as swiftly as possible.  
  
“Shouldn’t we go to the cathedral first?” I ask him, cautiously. I hear him sigh but he guides the horses towards that area. I know that he doesn’t particularly enjoy it that much, so I wanted to at least see one service in Rabona, curiosity being the main reason that I wanted to go. We stop at the cathedral and he helps me off my horse. I grip his arm in uncertainty and we both enter the cathedral. It is clear to me when we enter that there is a warrior up the front, her hair is long and her face is marred by scars that run through her eyes. She preaches from memory from hearing the gospel herself and I find her to be rather calm, though I know that perhaps she was content to say as much. I feel Chris’ uneasiness and I decide to see if she knew what was going on as well or if she was hiding from the Organization like we were. I wait patiently for the service to finish and I hold Chris’ arm. He gets up as the humans file out of the room, they move to a chamber beyond and I can hear them talking, their voices calm and content. We walk up towards the warrior who stands up the front. She is as tall as Chris is and I can’t help but know at once that she was the replacement for me. I half wonder what she is doing in Rabona like this, but I hold my thought as she speaks,  
"How can I help you? Is there something you have to confess? I'm here to listen to your problems in behalf of the Lord." The nun uttered as we went near to her now that the service was over.  
  
"You're a warrior?" Chris asked her. She was bewildered by the question but she kept her face and yoki calm. I wondered why she was…it didn’t make much sense and I came to a conclusion. Perhaps she was astonished that there were people who didn’t know that she was a warrior. I had sensed her yoki around Rabona and now seeing this girl in person told me that she might have been known as a former warrior like the comrades that had left the Organization that the humans might have known what she was. I was a little surprised but I was waiting on her answer.  
"How...how can you say something like that? I suppose you're just new here in Rabona. The townsfolk here must have told you about me." she said with a smile, I figured that she was assuming that she was talking to mere humans. Clearly she was still unaware that we were warriors as well.  
"Because I was the 'eyes' of the Organization until I deserted with my two comrades and my claymore on my back." I told her softly, my voice no more than a whisper.  
  
"Who...who are you?" she was again surprised, her expression in the face visible, she is shaken visibly. This time her astonishment is not the same as the latter.  
  
"She is the former Number 2, The Silent Chloey," says Chris, "I am the former Number 5 of the Organization, Christopher the Strong." Her yoki jerks up and I sense a strange feeling, but it is gone as soon as I pick it up. She was controlling her emotions but not as well as she wanted to. I wondered what it was that made her do that. I look around the cathedral and I am amazed at the windows and art. I half listen to the conversation between Chris and the warrior, having seen something interesting in one of the windows, the images vastly different to what was in Lido’s small church.  
“So you’re telling me that the Organization has been overthrown?” Chris’ yoki is shocked enough that I can tell he is greatly surprised by the news. Even I was shocked and I only heard part of the conversation  
“Two or more years ago now,” said the warrior, “Miria and a band of warriors attacked together and ended the Organization. I had thought that all the warriors knew about it…but seeing as the two of you are here and have no idea about the changes it is strange.”  
“No,” I cut her off, “all that happened was strange yoki releases and that was all I got, and when that’s all you get there is no definite conclusion.”  
The warrior’s head turns towards my voice, and she speaks, “At any rate this has all happened, if you’re looking for the residence of Miria, just follow the road further up, you’ll arrive to the Isle de Poire, there you’ll find the mansion where negotiations take place.”  
“Thank you, Lady Galatea.” Chris told her as I took his arm, I can’t fathom just what has happened and I doubt that I would be able to fully work it out “Perhaps it might do us some good to have a walk Chloey, let’s leave the horses to have a rest.”  
I look at him and I smile and nod. The horses would need more rest any way because we had to leave again very soon. The horses were taken to the stables near the cathedral and Chris said calmly that we would return before dark to collect them and leave. Kate trotted behind us happily and Chris headed up further where Galatea had suggested we go. I was glad to be walking; I looked around and wished that there was a way to see more of Rabona. I held on to Chris’ arm and watched as the humans bustled about, not a worry in their hearts. I was surprised by how peaceful it was. Lido was always tense, and only the children could think of playing. I watched as several children ran happily playing, not much different from back at Lido, and I felt depressed.  
  
Chris came to stop at a large beautiful house, so large in fact that I had never seen a house like it in all my life. It had to be the mansion that Galatea was talking about. It had to be where Miria was as I could sense her yoki, and three other yoki, three that I didn’t know, but had sensed before. I felt my breath tighten and I realised that I was starting to feel nervous again. I stayed close to Chris and I prayed that the mission would be done as quickly as possible.  
  
 _Miria stood in the garden admiring its beauty with Natalie, Valencia and Renée. It had been a long time since she’d been out in the garden, she had much to worry about now and when she heard from the guards that a pair of messengers from Lido had arrived, she had decided to send Valencia and Cid, both of whom could deal with regular humans. She had heard many rumours about the mayor of Lido, Marchello. She had hoped that she could see Chloey again, but Miria knew that small warrior was usually happiest out hunting, helping Lido, exactly how she had met her all those years ago, when she was grieving the loss of Hilda. It had been Chloey who had told Miria about the soul-link, about Luciela and Rafaela’s past. Miria had been stunned to hear such a tale, but she read the archives and found out that what Chloey had told her was nothing but the truth. Luciela had been made to turn in to a monster and Chloey had been forced to watch it. She had seen so much that Miria didn’t know if it was possible to know so much suffering and pain. Yet Chloey still kept hope, she was an honest follower of the God of Rabona, truly trusting the word and as calm as she could be. Cid arrived dutifully and Miria tilted her head,  
“They have arrived Your Highness.” he said,  
“Well then, both you and Valencia know what to do.” said Miria as she turned back towards the garden,  
“But Mum...” Natalie began, her hands half tucked into her skirt  
“We don’t need to see them,” said Miria, “there is no point in being serious just yet, besides it’s just a couple of humans from Lido.”_  
  
I sigh as we are let in by servants; they are unaware that I can sense what is going on. Chris declines a drink and I politely refuse one as well. Neither of us needs to drink anyway. I hear the sound of footsteps and I hold on to Chris’ arm again. I feel slightly nervous and I know that the warrior that is coming isn’t Miria.  
  
A door opens from one end of the room and I look at the warrior. Her hair is in a high bun, her eyes having a mischievous air about them even if she is acting controlled about it. Her dress is long and graceful, she has a man walking alongside her and he is strange. His hair is long and pulled back in to a sandy ponytail. His amour less than the usual Rabonian guard, it was as if he was one to stay at a distance and strike.   
  
"Good afternoon. Sorry for letting you wait. I'm Valencia de Murat, wife of General Jean Paul de Murat, General of the kingdom of Toulouse. I'm a dedicated servant of the Queen, entrusted for this talk. With me is Sir Cid de Silene, of the house of Malaga, royal guard’s officer. We're the ones being brought here to handle diplomatic matters that the mayor of Lido is requesting to discuss with. I apologize for you must have expected that the royalty itself will speak to you, but they have some matters to attend with. Even with that, the royalty sends their appreciation to the people of Lido, for recognizing the newly founded leadership under her most Highness,... Queen Miria,” she sounded like she had simply memorized what she was saying and we waited patiently for her to finish, "So what other matters does the people of Lido wanted to be heard by the Royalty? Maybe we can arranged the help for it?"  
"In behalf of the people living in Lido", Chris started the say, "we offer our greetings and support to the newly founded leadership of Toulouse." Chris removed the hood of his cloak to reveal himself, hesitant to do so as we now both knew there would be surprise that two warriors had been sent and not two humans, "As our appreciation and support, we got presents for the....." he hadn’t even got to the point of why we had travelled all this way when the warrior’s yoki shot up in shock,  
"WHAT THE FUCK!! WHO THE HOLY SHIT ARE YOU?!?!?!?!" Valencia yells, I am shaking by both the volume that she has managed and the warrior that she has simultaneously replicated. It’s too much and I hide behind Chris, I can see that her human companion, Sir Cid, was also surprised but I only see his face. It’s too much for me I am frightened because it was too much like that day. The very day that I could never forget that stayed in my nightmares for the rest of my existence…the day that Luciela awakened and many of my comrades had screamed that day. Chris spoke as calmly as he could,  
“Please not so loud,” he requested, his voice normal volume, “my wife has adverse reactions to loud noises especially since such noises are unnecessary in this room.”  
Valencia’s yoki became worried and she said, “Oh, well, you surprised me that’s all,” I peeked out from behind Chris and I could see a smile on her face, “I wasn’t expecting such a handsome warrior at all. I thought that you’d be just some human, but another warrior, well.”  
I carefully slipped out from behind Chris still shaken up by the loud noise. My own hood falls off my head because I was shaking still. She looked at me and was confused,  
“Who…”  
“Her name is Chloey,” said Chris, he sounded a little proud, but he could very well have been teasing her a little as he continued “she was the former Number 2 of the Organization and is my lovely wife.”  
Her eyes widen and she resists the urge to cry out again having heard Chris’ warning no doubt. I grip Chris’ arm again and stay as close to him as I possibly can. I am still shaken up and nervously stay as close to Chris as it was possible to be. Chris handed Valencia the gift from the Lido council, “As I was saying the mayor Marchello requested that we give these gifts as well as Lido’s most kind regards to the new ruler.”  
The two received the gifts and letter from the council and Valencia speaks again, her voice controlled, “Say, are you two staying in Rabona at all,” she sounded a little cheeky, but I am not worried about her, I look at Chris prepared to follow my husband’s example,  
“No we’re not,” Chris replied, “we must return to Lido as soon as possible.”  
She looks surprised and Chris continues, “We are expected to arrive before the next council meeting.”  
“You know there would be many warriors that would like to meet you both?” she asked, her eyebrow rising up in a worrying way,  
“We really must leave,” said Chris, “we have tread upon your hospitality long enough and must return home. It has been an honour to meet you, Lady Valencia.”  
She looked at us as we left; the expression in her face was one of curiosity and I could have swore that she looked crestfallen.  
  
We returned to the cathedral’s stables to collect our horses. I was shaking and I was tired. Gineve was glad to see me and she nuzzled my hand looking for a carrot. I gently petted her silky black muzzle,  
“Don’t worry Gineve,” I told her, “we’ll be home before you know it and you’ll get many carrots.”  
I heard Chris sigh and I turned to look at him,  
“We’d best get started then,” he said. He came over to me and lifted me up onto Gineve’s back, “perhaps we should try the shorter route home.”  
“The one with bandits?” I asked,  
“Well, it’ll get us home sooner and we can scare a few of them as well,” he grinned, “it’s been a while since we last had some fun.”  
I sigh and shake my head. I was sure that he had another reason for going that way, but I didn’t want to go there.  
  
By the time we were travelling out of Rabona it was clear that there was going to be the possibility of a storm near the city. Chris nudged Chip to a canter and I held on to my saddle for dear life. Gineve’s pace picked up to match Chip’s. Kate howled loudly and ran even faster than before. She truly loved it when she go to run far and fast. We covered a lot of ground and by the time night fell, it was clear that we had travelled at least twice as far as what we’d done on the way to Rabona. Chris set up our camp while I rested on the ground. Gineve and Chip were both grazing calmly. Once the fire was going Chris came and sat by my side. Kate was asleep by the horses, her white fur glistening gold in the firelight.  
“Well,” Chris turned to face me, “how about we call it a night?”  
I blink and sigh. I was looking forward to being home soon and I was sure that Meg and Claire were going to have many questions when we got back,  
“Or not.” Chris said suddenly pulling me in to his arms. I look in to his eyes and I notice that his yoki is up, just a bit,  
“Are you sure that you want that now,” I smile cheekily, “you know what I’m like Chris.”  
“Well, we can’t call you ‘The Silent’ can we.” he grins and his eyes take on a more yoma like shape,  
“Who said that?” I asked,  
“Not me.” Chris grinned and kissed me, and I closed my eyes and arced to him. It wasn’t long until we were moaning with pleasure and my yoki was bubbling in and out of sight all while I was crying out with pleasure.


	2. I: Strange Encounters Pt 1

_ Chloey deLupia Lido Mountain Ranges, Two Years Post Organization’s Fall _

I walked along the path as fog nearly blocked my sight. I was lucky to have Kate by my side and I knew if I got high enough that Kate and I could very well spot the deer better from the height of the mountainsides if they were hiding up there. My dark cloak helped me to blend in to the surroundings and kept me warm, it also helped save me from using my yoki to keep warm. I was able to hide a bit more with my yoki totally suppressed rather than having it up to keep me warm. Chris was camped further down in the valley to keep the animals that I was hunting from knowing that I was in the mountains and make it easier for Kate and I to get what we needed to. I’d hoped to have caught something by now and I was starting to get worried about it all. I tugged at my leather shirt and looked at my bare arms. The outfit was a bad idea; I should have worn some sleeves at the very least, then I wouldn’t have the cold to contend with. I sighed as I thought about the time of year. The deer moved down in to the valleys and they were hard to come by up here. I ran my left hand through my bangs that rested below my eyes and about half way towards my shoulders. I’d pulled my long pale blond hair in to a ponytail to keep it out of the way. My silver eyes were the only sign that I was something that was strange; indeed humans that looked in to them often said that I was reading in to their souls when I wasn’t. I shivered slightly and went to walk forward.

Kate was still and as I looked at her body signal, I knew that the deer had recently passed the trail that we were following. I looked up and around the trail for tell-tale signs that the deer had passed and I saw a few hoof prints in the damp earth. The deer had passed recently and it looked to me like there were quite a few of them heading towards what was a main stream in the mountain area. I felt a small smile creep up with what was hope. I knew that the deer would need to be quite big, there were several families in Lido that I needed to feed, and they barely had any money to spare on things like grain, no thanks to my oversized greedy cousin Marchello. I was worried about Chris as the fog rolled in some more. I hoped that he was doing ok and that he wasn’t too mad at me for arguing about having a baby. I flinched as I picked up sounds that I was seeking. The deer were going to pass soon. I gripped the hunting knife with care and readied myself to throw it. All the deer had to do was pass me and I would hopefully have a good sized animal.

_ Christopher deLupia Valley of Parabaro, Two Years Post Organization’s Fall _

I sat calmly near the small fire that I’d built and sighed. I wondered if she was ok, and hoped that Chloey would be back soon. I was beginning to run out of odds and ends that I really needed to keep the fire going. It had been a dull two weeks in which Chloey and I had an argument over something as simple as a baby. I wanted to see her with child, happy and whole, but she was still grieving from Heather’s death, and I knew it was going to take her some time, but I still felt that having one of her own would do much for us. Chloey doubted that it was even possible for her to carry and give birth to a baby, with the blackened scar that rested between her breasts and up her neck to a height that she needed to cover it with either her emblem or her usual high necked outfits. I sighed and hoped that she would get enough deer to feed the poorer families of Lido, and I really felt terrible for making her upset. I wondered if apologising when she got back would help ease the pain a bit, but my hopes weren’t high. I knew Chloey well and she didn’t share a lot of things with me still. Sometimes it was as if she was trapped in her own mind and I was just a bystander watching and doing what I could to help. It was as if she was avoiding me because she was so hurt about it all and all I’d done was suggest having the baby, not pushing it. Still I sighed inwardly and I looked around the clearing.

I listened to the sounds of the forest and I tilted my head. I was listening for the sounds of Chloey’s and Kate’s footsteps and all I heard was the rustle of wind in the leaves and nothing more. I got to my feet in irritation and walked around the clearing a couple of times, just to take the edge off. I sat again with my back on my claymore and pulled my hood up a bit to help with the cold. Damned Eric would love all of the fuss I was making over Chloey, he’d be all, “Ha, ha, I knew you married her for love you idiot!” and I would have to save my dignity and remind him that he died when Meg needed him the most, at least that was what I said to myself or the fact that he was just as close to Meg in the first place that it didn’t matter that I was deeply in love with Chloey. I still wondered how in the world Meg coped with such a loss as Eric from her life, but the blind woman had one hell of a heart, and one very supportive sister. While Meg and Claire frequented Eric’s grave, Chloey was always at Kate’s. And that wasn’t the pure white wolf that she always had with her, it was a comrade that was very important to her. One that I’d never had the chance to meet and greatly wished I could. The way Chloey talked about that Kate; was in a tone that was rare for her. She was both in pain and awed by Kate.

I heard the footsteps before I heard their voices. They were running from something and I knew that they needed a good hiding if I was going to be generous. I doubted that I had it in me on this particular day. Too bad that there were so many bandits in this part of the forest. Based on what I could sense it was not awakened beings, warriors or yoma. They were human that much was sure. I guessed quickly that they were bandits and they were snorting about an easy target and as I pulled my blade out of the ground I knew what was going to happen next and it wasn’t going to be pretty, not if I had my way. I was in the mood for a tough fight. I smirked darkly and thought only of the idea that they were no better than yoma. It would help in the fight, even if there wasn’t any yoki.

I waited until the bandits were right in front of me and counted them, there were 9 of them. Nine assholes that needed a lesson, or better to kill them, these boys wouldn’t have the right to do what they did and I wanted to clear out trouble at the same time. It was a shame that they were so young, barely babies compared to me. I sighed inwardly and began the waiting game.

I waited until the head of the bandits was in front of me before sighing, “Too bad you kids don’t know the meaning of respect.”

“So what,” the leader said cockily, “we own this forest.”

“You don’t boy and you know it.” I smirked again and I counted them again just to be sure that I didn’t miss one. They truly were no better than yoma anyway so this was going to be reasonably easy. I lifted my blade quickly above my head and I worked on what I’d long since been good at. A sword technique that gave me my nickname, “the Strong” and as I brought the blade down on the head bandit in its smooth and deadly arc, it didn’t stop, I swung it to the left and up again, slashing through the idiot that was standing beside the leader. Their bodies fell to the ground with a thud, and as I turned, I felt my own yoki rise on instinct, and I jumped, my hood falling off to reveal my face. The other men all froze and said, “He…he’s a…Claymore!” and before they could so much as run my blade slammed through them and they too dropped dead on to the forest floor. I had to work on the rest of them and as I ran ahead of them, they tried to run like frightened rabbits. I didn’t miss a single one. I was standing in the middle of the clearing by the time I was done. I heard more running and I looked up.

Who of all people should I see but Miria? Her pale blond hair was longer than I’d always remembered, so clearly she’d grown it out since we’d seen her. she looked thin, too thin for what was healthy.

“Miria, you’re looking too thin child, you need some more weight on.” I told her before I walked over to her and gave her a firm and well needed hug. It was a hug that I was sure Chloey would have given Miria as well, considering how close she was to all of us. In my mind’s eye I could see Claire bawling her eyes out while Meg was saying something of a funny nature towards Miria. She was glad to see me and hugged me back, much like a daughter would hug her father and in a way I was like that for her.

“Christopher, it’s good to see you again,” Miria smiled one of her rare smiles briefly, “where’s Chloey?”

I knew that Miria wasn’t comfortable with overly emotional things and considering that she wasn’t alone, I doubted that she would show just how much it meant to her to hear my answer, my name said formally was to simply hide the fact that she was tempted to call me Papa, which she’d done before, and gone rather white until I said that it was ok, I was an old man so it didn’t matter. Miria would have called Chloey either Mama, or Ma, but again she wasn’t comfortable saying that in front of her comrades, so she just spoke of Chloey by name,

“She hunts; I haven’t seen her for the last couple of days,” I lift up my hood again and I feel a grin creep up my face I had an idea that would keep Miria for a few days and hopefully she would put some weight on while she was at it, “now then, take these Miria, they’ll keep you fed for a while.”

I smiled at her and she lowered her head a bit,

“Thank you Christopher.” Miria said, again I knew that it was because her comrades were near her that she didn’t say what I knew she wanted to say, I was over by the fire to make sure it was still burning. As luck would have it, it was still burning much to my surprise,

“Any time, child.” I told her as she and her comrades left to where they’d come from, I sighed sadly and I wondered what she was doing, I missed her quite a bit. I looked to the sky and for the first time in my very long life I began to question if the God of Rabona was actually real. I wondered where Chloey was and I hoped I would see my small wife soon.

_ Natalie de Beauharnias  _

Captain Miria led us back to the merchant that we were guarding and pocketed the gift that the strange man gave her, she was actually smiling for a little while and as I looked to Renée and Helen I had to wonder who that man was. She’d called him Christopher, but there was something in the way she said his name and another name, ‘Chloey’ that said that she was close to those two people for whatever reason. We caught up to the merchant and night was falling. I was tired, but I wanted to know who the two people were that I’d heard about today,

“Captain Miria,” I began slowly, and she turned around to face me, so too did everyone else, “Who was the warrior that we saw today?”

She looked thoughtful before finally answering, “He was a warrior during Isley’s Era and he was known to make fun of others at times.”

“How do you know him sis?” Helen asked (though it sounded more like a demand than a question)

Miria looked to the flames of the small fire that we were sitting alongside and didn’t answer for a bit, in fact it seemed like she didn’t want to talk about it at all really. Just when I thought she wouldn’t say anything, she finally spoke,

“After a comrade died…I wondered around for a bit and I came across a small warrior, one that the Organization assumed long dead…”

_ I imagined that I was a younger Miria somehow, the way she spoke I felt as if I were her, still grieving over the loss of a faceless comrade and wanting to do nothing but die. I was by a river near the Paburo Mountains and I thought I heard the faint sound of another warrior walking towards me and when I turned it was as if I saw the warrior that Miria had seen all those years ago. Her long pale blond hair flowed down both sides of her face framing her wide silver eyes. Her emblem was one that I couldn’t even begin to imagine, her amour sounded like it was similar to Miria’s but the shoulders were designed for a woman that had wider shoulders that Miria, her amour jutted out and on her face was a look of such concern that I couldn’t begin to imagine what pain she would have known. I was Miria as she asked for that comrade’s name, only to see her run fleeter than a deer, and following her as best as I could. _

_ I was Miria as she was breathless and I was Miria as she walked up to the graves of five other comrades, _

_ “Signalling Kate, Lisa, Misty, Laughing Skylar, Heather.” _

_ And the warrior’s brave words _

_ “No matter how tough it is, you  _ must not _ give up, for their sake’s you must fight on, I’m sure that she wouldn’t have wanted to let you waste your life like this.” _

_ I felt Miria’s surprise at how she knew the grief that was tearing her very soul apart, the odd safe feeling that she felt with this warrior, it was as if she understood more about Miria than Miria did herself. _

“Of course she was grieving more than I could ever begin to imagine and yet, it was as if she knew better than anyone else what I was going through,” Miria took a deep breath and continued, “the time that we spent on that unnamed mountain was the most eye opening time for me…it was as if I finally understood what the Organization did to us and it was as if she had been waiting for me to come, because she said,  _ “I’ve seen too much of what the Organization does to their warriors,” she looked sadly at the ground, “if you really don’t want her death to be in vain, fight for what is right.” _ I knew in that moment what I almost needed to do, so I asked her ' _ What things?' _ ,” and she replied,  _ “Come see with your own eyes feel through your own blade and hear through your own ears that you may understand,” _ …”

Helen grumbled loudly about wanting to hear more and even Tabitha and Renée wanted to hear more. I was quiet (rather I was trying to be quiet in case Miria decided to say more about the small warrior), and I could see that Miria highly respected the warrior that she was talking about, she replied with a short answer that left me wondering what she meant,  _ “Well to cut a long story short, I decided to train with Chloey and I met the other warriors that were with her and they helped me train until I had to go back to the Organization, with Chloey’s words ringing in my ears long after she’d whispered them. I’d decided that I was going to fight for my fallen comrade and avenge her death.” _ I lay awake thinking of the warrior called Chloey even though Miria had suggested we get some sleep. Tomorrow we would near Malaga, and I was still lying awake thinking about the small warrior that Miria described and I didn’t know what I was going to do. I could tell that the warrior that Miria spoke of was strong enough to cope with her Phantom technique and I was sure that she was a skilled warrior at that. I looked over at Captain Miria and I wondered what brought her to that point. And I also wondered what it was that made Miria so sad, but I would never know. I rolled over and for some reason I dreamed of a warrior that was smaller than me, her blade guiding mine to help me improve my sword skills.


	3. II: Strange Encounter Pt 2

Chloey walked back to where Chris was camped and she hoped that he was ok. She had a good haul at last and as she adjusted the large buck on her left shoulder she could smell the burning smoke. She came to a stop as she regarded the bodies that lay casually on the ground and judging by the weapons that they carried, they were the last lot left of a group of bandits that she had dispatched with ease. She heard Kate’s footsteps as she followed her, the while wolf was almost as tall as her hips, though Chloey was only as tall as the claymore that was on her back. As she continued it was clear that the fire that Chris must have made was still burning, the wood made a distinct smell that Chloey had known ever since she was just a little girl. Chloey looked around for Chris and she saw him resting with his back against his own claymore. His eyes were closed and she knew that he would be resting as well as he could. She felt a small smile on her face and a stab of sadness at the same time. It was her fault that they had been fighting, though the pain that had come of the argument wasn’t worth the sadness that was now. Chloey walked over to Chris and she gently kissed his forehead,

“I’m sorry Chris.” she said in her soft voice,

Chris was up in less than half a second, his arms around her in a powerful embrace and Chloey felt the faintest of tears rolling down her cheeks,

“No Chloey,” Chris’ voice sounded strained with emotion, “I’m the one who should be sorry; I shouldn’t have pushed you like that.”

Chloey looked up in to Chris’s face and she felt as if he was letting her off rather than being the one who needed to apologise,

“Chris…I….” Chloey began,

“We’d better get that buck home,” Chris smiled kindly, “after all; it’s not going to get there on its own.”

Chloey sighed and shook her head, deciding to discuss the topic much later when things had settled down and Chris was willing to listen to her.

The trip home was easy and Chloey was glad that it didn’t take too long. Meg and Claire were glad to see them and with all the work that needed to be done, Chloey was glad that her comrades were there, even if some days they were annoying and Chloey wanted them not to argue. She was glad though that they were all together through thick and thin while the rest of the town of Lido had been more than accommodating to them. It was a far cry from the days when she was just a small girl, having lost both her parents to the yoma as well as her two older sisters. All that she had left was Kate, her older friend who was like a sister to her. Forced to leave Lido at the time, Chloey knew that there was only one fate…a fate that lead her to travel the continent from one end to the other before she was marked by the Organization as a warrior to get rid of. At the time Chloey had been a known favourite and when she was pushed in to hunting Agatha, her team didn’t stand a chance and she knew that they wanted her gone. It was then that Chloey decided to try an idea that she’d never thought of trying. Though she survived with Meg and Claire, Heather was killed by Agatha. Chloey froze and shook her head to dispel the memory that haunted her for years now.

Meg and Claire both argued over whom was going to head out around the poorer neighbourhood of Lido and Meg won the bet. Chloey asked Claire if she could help her with a couple of small things and Claire relented, swearing that she would do the next run when it was time. Meg had giggled and Chloey rolled her silver eyes at their playful argument and said rather calmly that Meg was long overdue for helping her out in the library anyway, and Meg hastily left with Kate. Claire groaned and Chloey felt a small smile on her face.

After half an hour in which time Chloey had sorted through her father’s journals again for the second time in as many years Claire helped with yet another task. Chloey had been reading her father’s journals and slowly had been acquiring Lido’s history. She knew more about Lido than any of the people of Lido now that she was almost finished. There were still a couple of facts that she needed to know, but they were locked away back at Sutafu.

Two more years passed and as Chloey drew in a deep breath of mountain air, she had felt a lot change. Lido was beginning to show signs of being run down and no matter how long and loud the councillors of Lido begged Marchello for the funds he always said the same thing,

“Rabona is demanding a lot of money in taxes and we don’t have enough to keep the city.”

Chloey had felt her blood boil, but she never said a word, not yet anyway. Marchello should have known that taking such a large pay would lead to the people of Lido being in more trouble than in the past and now that Marchello was mayor. Still Chloey didn’t want to be in that position. She was more concerned with the factions that were staring to form within the council and she did her upmost not to get overly involved. It was dangerous to say the least as Marchello struggled to control them all.

Chloey sat in her chair and wished that she could wear something other than the low cut purple silk dress that Lord Stephan’s wife had made for her. Chloey was the only woman on the council and as she looked at all of the men that had grown up with her as the village’s Huntress, she was sure that a good number of them would have wanted to see her in a mayor’s outfit, with the long sleeves that would come halfway down Chloey’s thighs, much like the purple dress that was made by Lady Maria barely three Christmases ago, except that it had a slight train and was embroidered with small gems that were the same as the small delicate tiara that carried deep amethysts set in to it. She shuddered at the thought. She looked around the chambers and sighed inwardly, she had little doubt that they wanted her to wear that damned dress; all men as far as she was concerned were almost always the same.

“Is there anything that you would like to add, Lady Chloey.” Lord Rufus’ voice broke Chloey’s reverie and she was forced to look at all of the men. Upon realising that they were all waiting on her to say something, Chloey rose to her feet, a gesture that was well lost on them anyway since she wasn’t overly tall. She cleared her throat and looked to the human men and then over the large room again. The brown walls were chipped in some places, the old oak tables had lasted well since the day that they were made by one of the few master craftsmen that were left in Lido, nearly ten years ago. The floors needed some repair and Chloey looked to the windows, saddened by the state that Lido was getting in under Marchello’s care.

“Well it looks like…” Marchello sneered,

“Enough Marchello, I did not say anything and I highly doubt that you were willing to give me a chance to say what I was going to say so why don’t you just  **SHUT UP AND LET ME TALK** !” Chloey snapped, the effect was instantaneous, the entire room suddenly silent as the air became deathly cold, and it was clear that once again Chloey’s yoma powers were working their frightening power as the air stayed colder than any winter’s day, Chloey was furious and it was clear to anyone who looked at her that there was the air of a monster, it was as if the small woman had grown even though she was still smaller than most of the men in the room, only just taller than the young Lord Thomas de Marlene, and he was shrinking before the small woman’s wrath and he wasn’t the only one who was cringing, even Chris was cringing at the volume that his small wife was achieving without much yoki, although Marchello was white faced he was sitting still in his chair, unmoving as if to try to defy what was the fury that he’d yet to see the end of, “If I had wanted to pass without speaking I would have said so, and since you are insisting on being impatient then I will say this, I  _ demand _ that the Council of Lido has an inquisition in to your claims Marchello that Rabona are pushing higher taxes on to us, or if like last time you are trying to get a higher wage for no apparent reason, I also demand as the Huntress of Lido that the taxes on the people of Lido be lowered until such claims are proven to be true!”

All of them stared at Chloey while the small woman was shaking with noticeable anger, no one was game enough to argue (Marchello still in as much shock as the rest of the men) with Chloey when she was like this and her motion was swiftly recorded by Tobias, Marchello’s first born son and seconded by several members of the council before the factions (those that supported Marchello) could react to suppress Chloey’s demands. It was passed before Marchello could even gather his courage and react in time to question her motives and for the first time in his life Marchello saw what happened when she was annoyed. However he had yet to learn that this was just the tip of a massive ice burg that not even he could match and the small woman had a far more explosive reaction in store if she wasn’t listened to. It was something that Chris had only ever seen once and he hoped that he would never see it again, and he was close behind her should she go to get too much out of hand, but the expression on Marchello’s face told the old warrior that all that he needed to know, Marchello was intent on pushing Chloey as much as possible like a rebellious child. Chris looked at Chloey and he could see that Chloey was holding back ever last bit of fury but that still didn’t ease him, he knew that somewhere down the line that someone was going to have Chloey go off at them and it wasn’t going to be pretty. He just hoped that it wasn’t going to be a case of Chloey’s temper besting her. He knew without a doubt what was going to happen next if that was the case and started to gather his things to take back home. He would have to think of a good distraction for her later.

Chloey was still shaking with anger as she left the council chambers; she almost didn’t notice Marcus, Marchello’s second born son. She was saddened to see that the young man was kept from council meetings by Marchello as if the man expected Tobias to be able to handle the stress of being mayor on his own. Chloey mastered her emotions as the young man spotted her,

“Lady Chloey!” he exclaimed, his brown eyes going wider than any pot of Chloey’s father’s stews. “Could…could I help you home?”

Chloey looked at the young man and his sloppy brown hair and sighed, “You’d be welcome to,” her voice was back to its soft self and Marcus gently looped his right arm through Chloey’s left,

“Is there any chance of Lady Claire not being too busy?” Marcus asked with a slight blush,

“I think I will leave that to Meg and Claire.” Chloey replied, as the two often had arguments over who was doing what task, though they often got over it relatively quickly, it was still a sight that Chloey had to shut out more often than she wanted to. She sighed inwardly and noticed that she was the last to leave the building; Marchello was being carried off to his over extravagant home while she was walking. Chloey felt another spike of anger and she worked to ease it down again.

Marcus was an unusual young man. Certainly he was Marchello’s second born son, but he was ignored by his father and older brother. His mother had loved him dearly when he was born and had named him after her grandfather. The boy had proven on more than on occasion that Joan had chosen his name well, he was particularly good with numbers, and Chloey would often get him to look over her own financial records to make sure that she’d worked them out right. She was grateful that he was walking home with her, even if it was just to see Claire. Chloey felt a small smile on her face as she walked the rundown street towards the home of her childhood. Together with Marcus she passed the centre fountain that she used to play in as a little girl, and she felt a pang when she saw the children playing there. A statue stood in the middle of the fountain of the first mayor of Lido, a woman holding a sceptre with an emblem on it. Chloey had seen that emblem and knew that it was the deLupia emblem, without her Organization emblem on it. The wolf had its head back in a howl and the dress that this mayor was wearing was one that Chloey would have to wear should she ever become mayor of Lido. Chloey looked at the woman a while longer and she wondered why she didn’t look at her better before, and she sighed,

“What’s wrong Lady Chloey.” Marcus asked politely,

“Nothing Marcus,” said Chloey calmly, “nothing at all.”

They arrived at Chloey’s childhood home and it was about the only place that looked well cared for. A young looking woman with long blond pigtails was busily cleaning the windows at the front and she looked at ease with her task, her light pink dress falling just below her knees with the sleeves coming to her elbows. She turned to face them and Chloey had known that it was Claire, the older warrior still wearing her Organization emblem, the upside down version of Teresa of the Faint Smile, a stylized t shape with two lines slanting inwards towards the main horizontal bar that featured in almost all warrior’s emblems. No sooner had Claire spotted Marcus than did she smile sweetly at the young man,

“Marcus, how nice it is to see you,” she called happily, “could you please help me with this bucket?”

“Uh…sure Lady Claire.” Marcus blushed and Chloey left them to it. She walked in to the house and made her way up the stairs. She always paused at the bottom of the stairs as she remembered the last sight of her sisters and parents. Chloey touched the wall where Teresa had laid and she felt a sad tear in her eye, regret coursing through her as she thought of what had happened the night before the yoma had attacked, and before she knew it the memory came back as strong as ever,   
  


_ I knew that what I was doing was wrong, I knew it, but I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity presented to me. I could feel a grin on my face as I knew what was next. Teresa had it coming; she should have known not to leave herself open like that. I crept up to her sleeping form, silent and still as my father had taught me to be. Not even Teresa or Claire knew that I was there. I wasn’t supposed to be up late, but I wanted to. I wanted to get Teresa back for what she’d done and I wanted to get her back good. I gripped the slimy frog in my hands, I knew that Teresa hated the creatures, so when I found one I followed it and caught it with my bare hands. It didn’t like me holding it, but it was quiet as I was gentle. I could feel the floor with my bare toes, the air was hot and heavy and the crickets were singing. Kate snored and rolled over; the pale moon light lit her face, her long blond hair over her eyes. Teresa was the bed next to Kate; with Claire just a stone’s throw from her, the bed across the room. I crept past Kate’s bed and lightly placed the frog on Teresa’s stomach. It wouldn’t be long now, I knew until she woke up. The frog hopped along Teresa’s stomach as I backed away in to the shadows. She stirred and then I could make out her shape, _

_ “AH!” Teresa screamed loudly as she realised that there was a frog on her. Claire dived out of bed and Kate yelled _

_ “What the hell Teresa, what’s your problem?” _

_ “Fucking Chloey put a fucking frog on my gut!” I giggled a little, too soft to be heard and our mother stormed in. She had a candle and I made it looked like I’d been woken. It worked because my mother said loudly, “Teresa you will hold your tongue and be quiet and I do not appreciate being woken in the middle of the night without reason.” _

_ Claire squawked as she fell on to the floor. I let out a loud yawn, _

_ “Go to sleep, all of you.” she snapped, as was her custom, she stormed out of the room and then father walked in. He had a candle as well, it made him look old and tired, “Now, now girls.” his deep soothing voice could calm any unhappy pup, and it worked on us just as well, “It’s very late, I know that you’re excited about the upcoming wedding Teresa but you must rest, I want you all to be your best,” he looked around the room and Kate walked over to my bed, “Kate…” his voice was firm, _

_ “I couldn’t sleep,” Kate replied, “I don’t mind Chloey; at least she’s quieter than others I know.” _

_ My father chuckled and shook his head, “Very well, be sure to have her ready tomorrow then, she will need to look like a little lady for her sister’s wedding.” _

_ “Yes sir.” Kate smiled. She was older than Teresa, but she stayed with us, for reasons that I didn’t know. My father was particularly fond of Kate, though I didn’t know why. My birthday was in a week, and would be celebrated accordingly, after Teresa got married. My father said that I would have a special gift for my birthday and Teresa was jealous. I was my father’s favourite, I knew that I was his favourite daughter, but it didn’t matter to me. Kate started singing my lullaby and I slowly closed my eyes. Victory was so sweet when no one else knew except you and the person you were getting back. As I fell to sleep I could almost swear I heard Kate say, “Goodnight my precious baby”, but she could have said sister for all I knew. My head hit the pillow as Kate’s arms circled me gently. _

Chloey snapped out of the thought and wiped the small tear out of her eye and continued to her room that she shared with Chris, and gratefully got out of the dress that she was wearing. She pulled on her usual outfit and un-braided her hair. She was almost done when Meg shuffled in. Chloey turned and sheathed her claymore on her back and took a good look at Meg. Meg’s dress wasn’t sitting right and it looked like it was riding up her thighs.

“Hello Megl” Chloey walked over and loosened the broad straps that held Meg’s shirt and carefully let the skirt down properly before tightening the shirt again. Meg sighed in frustration,

“Damn it, I thought that I had it this time, really Chloey what’s wrong with wearing my amour, at least I know how to put it on!” Meg whined,

“It was a small error Meg,” Chloey replied calmly, “besides you look wonderful.”

And true to Chloey’s words, Meg did look wonderful in the light green shirt over the soft brown skirt. Chloey smiled lightly and lifted Meg’s hands to feel the straps,

“They need to be like this.” Chloey explained to Meg,

“Oh, that was what felt so odd.” Meg realised that Chloey was really trying to help her out and her winging stopped as quickly as it had started. Still Chloey never once told Meg off when she did complain, which Meg found rather strange, but pleasant. She walked confidently out of the door and paused for a second,

“Hey Chloey…?” Meg spoke to get her comrade’s attention

“Yes Meg.” Chloey replied,

“Do you remember when we first came here?” Meg asked,

Chloey smiled and replied, “How can I forget.”

Meg laughed suddenly and Chloey was soon laughing with her, the two enjoying the old memory of Meg’s first day in the house where she swore that the damned doors were moving around on her. It was so funny that Meg almost ran in to the walls again and Chloey couldn’t help but double over with laughter, tears running down her cheeks as she leant on the wall. Meg grinned and headed off to do whatever it was that she was doing leaving Chloey to reflect on the ideas that were in her head. She smiled to herself and then looked around the room one last time, all was still now and as the sun filtered through the window Chloey shook her head and left the pale yet warmly coloured room. She stopped again and it was almost as if she were a child, her older sister Teresa was being dressed in to a delicate white dress while teasing Chloey unmercifully about her small body and Chloey felt the urge to yell back at Teresa with words that she had regretted the last time that she said them. Chloey quickly pushed the thought out of her mind and left the room, almost slamming the door in her desperation to get away from the memory that haunted her even now that she was a woman and it had been a long time since Teresa’s taunts had been spoken.


	4. III: Strange Encounter Pt 3

Chloey found Chris sitting in the library his nose deep in a book that she’d been working on, he looked as if he was deeply in to it so she lightened her step so he wouldn’t be disturbed by her presence. As he looked up to regard her there was a smile on his face,

“And so, the historian arrives,” he grinned broadly, and she waited for him to finish what it was that he was going to say next “tell me, why is Lido so easily defended my dear?”

Chloey smiled and felt the age old ‘deLupia’ defence rise up, something that her father had said ran in the family and Chloey felt like smirking about it.

“Think of it this way, how easily could Lido be accessed by an enemy army?” she asked, beginning at the very point of the matter, as if she were explaining to a child that wasn’t interested in anything less than a good story, “True it would be hard to get supplies if Lido were ever to be sieged, but in saying that Lido’s isolation is part of the key to its defence. Paburo and Pabaro are both cities that are easily found and thus easy to control; Lido is harder because of the location besides few people stay in Lido and you know how hard it is for farmers to keep close to the town on the mountain sides, what with the winter floods and storms.”

Chris looked at his wife and smiled, “I see, so if they had horses…?”

“Just as hard, they would have to have the equipment to do so and most armies here don’t have the ability to do it.”

“Well, you’re a logical woman aren’t you?” Chris teased, “Just like Thomas,”

Chloey playfully smacked her husband’s arm and Chris pulled her in to his arms and kissed her tenderly,

“Really can’t live without you, you know that Chloey?” he looked in to her eyes, “Something tells me that we’re going to be away for a few days, am I right?”

Chloey smiled and kissed Chris,

“Yes, be ready to leave soon,” she said as she kissed his forehead.

Chris got up, placed the book away and they both left the library as Chloey headed to where she kept her hunting knives and selected the ones that she could throw over distance. She had plans and Marchello was not going to interfere with them again.

As she walked out of the dilapidated gates of Lido and started smelling the fresh mountain air Chloey felt a lot better it was as if the air itself made all the difference. She had decided to wait for Chris by her favourite clearing, one that her father had often waited in for both Chloey and Kate to come with him and it brought back many memories, all of the times that she’d spent in that clearing was some of the best times, the first time that she discovered the world beyond the city of Lido and it soon became one of her favourite places to hide from Teresa and Claire when she was feeling particularly down about their teasing. She was glad to be rid of Marchello, even if it was just for a couple of weeks while she journeyed doing what was best for Lido. Chloey breathed in the fresh mountain air and smiled as their journey began. Chris carried some supplies but really the reason that Chloey had wanted to get out was because she knew that this time of year was the worst time to get out and hunt and any chance that she got she had to utilise. Especially before the storms started to rip through the area, and cause them some trouble with the possibility of snow and ice covering the roads and blocking the way home. Animals would move down in to the valley and as Kate lead the way Chloey noticed something that she didn’t quite notice before, but it was subtle than she thought and she put it out of her mind as the journey continued.

Kate sniffed the ground and trotted ahead of Chloey as she looked for prey. Chloey had long since been used to hunting for various families and the poor usually begged the old warrior for her skills and would often try to repay her as best they could, Chloey gave them good cuts of meat that would help their growing children and asked for nothing in return, still they did send some of their older children to her to serve in her house and Chloey would often send them home with warm stews and enough food to keep their family fed for a while. As she walked Chloey regarded the gates of Lido in the late afternoon sun. The golden colours splashed across the sky as if God were reminding her of his wonderful creation. Chloey grabbed Chris’ arm and Chris stopped and also looked at the glorious sunset,

“Not one is the same,” Chloey sighed wistfully,

“Yes that is true,” Chris looked at his wife and smiled.

Kate walked over to them and sat, clearly she decided that she too was going to watch the sunset. It wasn’t long until Kate howled loudly, something that she often did when Chloey was out watching the sunset. Most of the villagers said that Kate was calling them to be inside and out of the dark night, though Chloey doubted it since Kate always howled at the rising moon regardless of what was going on around her.

Chloey and Chris walked onwards while Kate was trotting behind them looking for prey. Chloey slipped through the trees quietly without a noise and Chris stepped as carefully as he could, making sure to keep the sound of his footsteps as quiet as possible. Kate ghosted forward and Chloey looked further in to the darkening light. She could see the forest as clear as day when she used just a fraction of her yoki and it was easy for her to see the trees and she could make out some deer in the distance. She estimated that there were at least twenty of the creatures and based on the size of them it was possible that they were females. Chloey tilted her head and focused her hearing and she could hear that at least one member was struggling. Kate knew that there was dinner to be had soon and she was eager to go after the herd. Chloey slowly drifted forward and decided to follow the herd to see what was going on and to also see if there was any that were old enough to be good food.

The sun rose to bring in another day and Chris was packing up their camp when some bandits decided to try and attack them. It was both their first and last mistake as both Chloey and Chris killed the lot of them, not a single man living to tell the tale of how fearsome Chloey’s sword technique was, her cuts deep and calculated to the point that the men didn’t stand even the smallest of a chance and as Chloey and Chris went to leave Kate growled a warning and then she howled again. All that was left of the bandits were hacked up pieces of flesh that looked like a yoma had killed them. It was an old habit that Chloey didn’t want to break. She soon found a good place to set camp for the night and she set it up. It was going to be their semi-permanent camp. Chris would keep watch while Chloey would make small raids to catch some deer and Chris would skin and prepare them for the humans. Chloey knew that the creatures travelled a fair way and she also knew the layout of the land. They were well placed so that Chris would be sheltered from the rain and fog that sometimes would roll in and Chloey was able to hunt near a water source that didn’t freeze over easily. It was a good place to hunt.

************************************************************************************************************************************************

Miria sighed as the cold air began to move from the north to the south in the never ending cycle of seasons. She had insisted that Natalie dress properly and Natalie did as her foster mother had asked. Years had passed since the Organization had fallen and some things never changed. Renée was busily pursing activities to keep her occupied while Miria had reflected on just how close she had been to seeing Chloey again. Miria had wanted to talk to Chloey so badly about things that she didn’t want to talk to Natalie about because Natalie wouldn’t understand in the same way that the quiet warrior would. Miria sighed as she should have known that Chloey would never have exposed her yoki, even if she knew that the Organization had fallen. According to Galatea both Chloey and Chris had actually asked her what was going on, and after talking with Chris, Galatea had discovered that neither had known about the fall of the Organization. Galatea had been shaken greatly since she was proven to be inferior to the older warrior and she wasn’t the first “eyes” used by the Organization. Galatea had asked why Miria hadn’t mentioned anything about Chloey and Miria decided that she would only give Galatea enough information to explain at least half the story and hoped that Galatea would think carefully about what Miria wasn’t saying.

“Why, didn’t you talk about her Miria,” Galatea sounded hurt and annoyed at the same time,

“She made me promise not to say anything about her, I knew her as a key source, if she was to be found by the Organization, and they had a choice between their better eyes and you, how do you think they’ll choose. It would be her life over yours and you know it,” Miria sighed, “not to mention that Chloey herself wanted nothing to do with the Organization after she left it. She knew more about it than I did. Ever,”

“So then what are you planning to do now that we know of her existence?” Galatea asked Miria,

“What I always intended to do, go and see her again, at least once things settle down,” Miria said looking out of the large window of the cathedral. Galatea sensed a strange yoki flow from Miria, one that she’d sensed before, but she didn’t know what it meant, especially since Miria was good at suppressing her emotions and a thought occurred to Galatea,

“She can read you like a book, can’t she Miria,” Galatea asked frustrated that she couldn’t read Miria despite how blind she was with her physical eyes, which led to her heighted yoki ‘eyes’.

“Of course, her sensitivity is unrivalled she could read Priscilla if it came down to it,”

Galatea hung her head and tried to really read Miria, but again the yoki was just too low to read across the room accurately, Miria’s yoki being as suppressed as it was irritated her, but now she knew, out there somewhere was a woman that could read Miria’s yoki with ease and know what the Phantom was really feeling. Galatea still kept trying to sense the yoki fluctuations in Miria’s body all the same but inside she was just furious that she couldn’t get an accurate reading.   
  


Natalie stretched and she yawned loudly. She had been reading a large book about the history of Rabona and it was duller than any book that she’d read. As Natalie rolled over she saw Miata having what looked like a sleep, but Miata wasn’t asleep, her body was too tense and she was to alert. Natalie felt a smile on her face and got off her large comfortable bed complete with light pink blankets. Natalie had an idea and it was going to be a good one. Miata didn’t say a word and she simply got up and walked behind Natalie down the corridor decorated with soft colours that made Natalie think of spring and she smiled as she thought of something fun to do.

As they arrived in to yet another room, Natalie looked around to see a whole gathering of other half yoma, each wearing different outfits and she spotted Valencia sitting next to a couple of warriors, and Natalie overheard their conversation, and she wondered who it was that they were talking about and the more that she heard the more that she came to understand. She wasn’t sure why but she had to go and see Miria. She just had to. As Natalie headed off, she heard Valencia giggle and she shook her head. Of course Natalie wasn’t sure what there was to giggle about and as she walked away to head to where Miria was, Natalie heard Valencia say one name, “Chloey,” and she felt her mind whir with activity that she couldn’t understand. It was as if she’d heard the name before but she didn’t know where that was.

Miria was busy when Natalie arrived to Miria’s large office. Natalie waited patiently for Miria to be not as busy and then she simply had no choice, because she had been waiting for several minutes now and she really wanted to get her idea planned out with some information first.

“Excuse me Mother,” Miria’s head snapped up from the paperwork that she had spent the morning staring over and she smiled when she saw Natalie,

“I see that someone is curious about something,” Miria smiled, “you can have the key to the library as long as you lock it up when you’re done for the day,”

Natalie’s eyes widened in shock as she realised that somehow her mother had known what she’d wanted and was a step ahead of her. Natalie blinked for a few seconds and then stammered, “Th…thank you Mother,” while Miria gave her the key and returned to her paperwork reluctantly. Natalie then left the room as quietly as possible. Miria was still as busy as ever it seemed, but not so busy that she didn’t know what Natalie wanted or needed.

As Natalie and Miata both entered the library that was kept locked up for the safety of the humans Natalie had to admire how large it was. Shelves ran from wall to wall with a large gathering of books that used to belong to the Organization, mostly records of the warriors that had worked for the Organization. As Natalie looked at the shelves trying to decide what to read, she came across a book that looked like it was an interesting read, and as she pulled out the leather bound book she became aware of two things about the book. The title read  _ The Luciela Era and Its Effect on Toulouse _ and it was heavy and thick. She carefully carried it over to the large oak table and once she set it down, Natalie opened the cover slowly. The book was well written and as she turned the opening page and read carefully about the warriors of the Luciela Era, most of whom were changed in a relatively quick time. She looked at the warriors listed in the contents and came across two particularly interesting sounding warriors, Signalling Kate and The Silent Chloey. Natalie opened the page to Signalling Kate and read the entry for the warrior,

_ Signalling Kate was the Number 3 mere months after being promoted to warrior status. She was a reasonable warrior with a relatively calm disposition said to be able to keep her comrades at ease while they were working with her. Signalling Kate is well known to have been able to work in groups as much as on her own, being a highly successful warrior in the field and showing that she was well ready to receive the Number 3 ranking. She was known to shake in the presence of yoma, thus giving her the nickname, “Signalling Kate” as the closer the yoma or awakened being was, the stronger the shaking. Signalling Kate is also well known to be close to the former Number 7, The Silent Chloey and the pair were one of the most widely accepted working pairings within the Organization, and they were both often seen sparring as their regions were close by. However it was to be a fateful hunt that would see the disappearance of Signalling Kate, her corpse to remain undiscovered. _

Natalie read on and found something that looked interesting,

_ Of all the warriors of the Luciela Era only two were from the town of Lido, a small city located in the Paburo mountain ranges famous for the amethyst mines that were once the most productive mines of Toulouse. Lido is quite difficult to reach and the weather is mostly unpredictable, no other warriors have come from that town since. _

Natalie leaned back in her chair and she saw that Miata was casually resting with her back against one of the many pillars, “Interesting reading huh?” Miata asked,

“Yes, I think I’m on to something Miata,” Natalie looked up The Silent Chloey and skimmed the entry, “location of birth, Lido…now why would the Organization want a girl from Lido like her…?”

Natalie read on and the more she read the more confused she became, “Has shown multiple signs of depression and the occasional lack of self-preservation…defensive type noted for healing ability at the cost of strength…appears to be obedient, reasonably strong despite being defensive type…known to fight other warriors when pushed, cases of disruption in training…known to have finished off awakened beings on her own, however there isn’t enough evidence to support it…” she sighed loudly, “just what are they saying I don’t understand; how could they want a warrior like this?”

She looked out of the window in to the sunset and walked up towards it. As she gazed out of it she could see the people of Rabona going about their daily business, the markets brimming with buyers and sellers all trying to keep their families fed and cared for, the clomping of horses’ hooves reaching her sensitive ears as she listened to the muffled voices. The light filtering down lightly casting a glow across the roof tops as the day looked set to end soon, the sky slowly changing their colours to their golden hues and showing the glory that Natalie had come to learn about with Galatea’s careful explanation, the sky being painted by God’s hand for their enjoyment

“Miata,” Natalie began, turning to face not only her personal protector, but also one of her closest friends that she had made since the Organization had fallen, “could you please do me a favour and start making preparations for a trip to Lido?”

Miata looked up and tilted her head, “Why Lido Natalie? Do you really think that it is safe to go there? What if the town was really a hive of bandits? Or what if it was too dangerous to go there? Really you must think carefully about this trip, also you wouldn’t have your mother’s approval to go, what of that?”

“We’ll be safe if the preparations are done well. Firstly I doubt very much that a group of bandits would take over the town, after all we would have known by now if they did and besides I want to see Lido for myself and not just hearsay from a report that could possibly be hiding the real situation over there. Also Mother is very busy, do you really think it’s worth troubling her over? What if she is too busy to even give an answer, you’ve seen how busy she gets,”

Miata sighed, perhaps Natalie was right, “What sort of preparations Natalie?” she asked warily, as if expecting Natalie to go over board and not be listening to her. It was as if the idea was one that Natalie was enjoying too much to want to listen, but to Miata’s surprise, it seemed that Natalie was thinking it all through, as if she was really thinking through everything that was needed as she calmly replied, “Well, I am thinking that we might need a few guards, just to be safe though we’ll be fine, really there is nothing to worry about the area is safer than Rabona if the report is true, if not then we came prepared at least,”

Miata exhaled slowly and replied, “I’ll get as much as I can done for you,”

“Many thanks Miata,” Natalie smiled, “now then…what to pack…”

As Miata left the room she could hear Natalie pondering on all of the dresses that she had and what would look best for her to wear when she arrived in Lido. Miata left Natalie to it as she instructed a couple of guards to keep watch over the Princess and keep her safe while Miata made an attempt to get the logistics of such a trip underway. She didn’t know why, but there was something that wasn’t right, something that was making her uneasy and it wasn’t the fact that Natalie wanted to go to Lido, it was going there in the first place…it was probably nothing, and Miata shook it off as she walked down the stair case lost in thought.


	5. IV: Strange Encounter Pt 4

While Natalie was busy wondering about to pack, another half yoma was staring out in to the forest dreaming of a time when things were nicer and more simple. It was the very warrior that the Princess of Rabona had been reading about, a warrior who was small and perhaps one of the quietest of all warriors. She’d pulled her large grey cloak up to cover her shoulders and protect her from the cold wind that was blowing through the trees. She watched the trail and she knew that it wouldn’t be long now until her prey came through the gap in the saplings for the water that was beyond the clearing, the faint trickling sound she could hear from where she was softly resting and the hum of life was all around her and she felt as if she were outside it all, as if she alone was a monster that had to be contained in the most horrible way possible.

Slowly light crept up the sides of the mountains and cast its delicate rays upon the clearing where the half yoma was hiding, her dark cloak would keep her hidden from the animals that were sure to make their way through for water. As she waited patiently she thought back to the past and wondered if things were different what would have happened and shook her head. She knew that deep in her heart there was no point in wishing for the past to be present; there was nothing to bring back the people that she loved. Chloey lowered her head and felt the tears slide down her cheeks, some days it was hard to keep on living, but she had so much to fight for that she couldn’t just let go. She looked at the sunrise and felt a deep sadness in her heart. She knew that she wasn’t alone, but the thought of the ones that had passed and she lowered her head again. It was a shame that she couldn’t save the dead and gone.

Slowly the white wolf made her way along the path, her mistress was taking her time and she knew that the deer were heading away from her. Kate sniffed the air and she knew that both her mistress and her master were counting on her to find and chase the deer towards them. Kate shifted a little to the right and the scent of deer was strong. She knew that the creatures were close. She lopped around to the right hand side of the deer herd and made sure that the animals looked old and weak. She reached the point where she could drive the deer towards her mistress and then she let out a loud and long howl. The effect was instantaneous. The deer all froze and looked up, ear twitching this way and that to determine where the wolf was, their ancestors had been hunted by humans and wolves alike and as far as they knew that howl meant that they were in danger. Kate howled again and the deer ran in the direction that she’d wanted them to run. Kate’s tongue lolled happily as she chased the animals to where her mistress was waiting.

Chloey had heard the howls and her head jerked up sharply. It seemed that the white wolf was keen to hunt; though what she was doing Chloey didn’t know. She didn’t have long to wait until she had her answer. Frighted deer raced through the clearing and past her in order to escape Kate no doubt. Chloey flicked the knife and brought down an already injured buck. The rest of the herd ran off, jumping and running to escape the clearing, Kate jumped from the side of the deer and they panicked and ran even faster, not even bothering to jump now that the enemy was so close to them. Chloey caught sight of an arrow and she looked towards it. Chris eased his bow down and grinned at Chloey from his hiding place in the trees and Chloey felt a small smile on her face. She was glad that it was Chris and not bandits.

As they swiftly prepared the deer, Chloey noticed that the sky was starting to cover with clouds and it looked to her like a storm was going to come through the area. She wasted no time in getting the meat ready for the journey back to Lido. Chloey looked at the trees and she had yet another idea. It would be perfect if they could get some wood as well.

Natalie slowly stretched and gazed out of the carriage window, so far the journey to Lido had been easy, the roads smooth and clear of bandits and danger. Miata was riding her chestnut horse beside the carriage, the creature holding its head up, proudly, mane and tail flowing in the wind like fire crackling. Natalie had wanted to ride as well, but she was reduced to sitting in the carriage for reasons that she didn’t like. Natalie looked around the town that they were travelling through and she felt curious about the people that were there. She could see that the markets were no different to Rabona and the humans all bustled around getting food. She had been told that they were in Paburo, a city that was close to Lido, the trip had taken then two weeks so far and they were told that they had to travel on further to reach Lido itself, although the town residents had been reluctant to speak of Lido, as if the town was as good as invisible to them.

It took them three days to reach the mountainside that would lead the way to Lido and as Natalie stretched her legs, both she and Miata swore that they heard a loud howl from a wolf. Natalie consulted their youthful guide and he told them that wolves were common place among the mountain pass,

“However there is one wolf that you’d want to avoid seeing, she’s the large white one with green eyes, her mistress lives somewhere in the mountains, though you won’t see her, she’s always minding her own business and all except when she chooses to come down to one of the neighbouring towns,”

“How do you know this?” Miata asked the youth,

“It’s simple, every month or so she comes to Paburo with furs from her hunting with a man, they never have taken off their cloaks nor has anyone seen their faces. All we know is that they live in the mountains somewhere and they hunt with the large white wolf. No one even knows their names.” He drew in a big breath and sighed deeply, “People have speculated that she’s a claymore but no one can really be sure until she pulls that hood of her’s off, I mean she’d be really old so she has to be a claymore as they’ve never had any children or anyone else with them.”

Another howl was heard off in the distance and the youth threw another stick on the fire, he was used to speculation and he didn’t really care. He was worn out from the journey and he curled up into a ball near the fire. Claymores danced in and out of his dreams, not much different to the ones that he was guiding, except that he was sure they were more like the mysterious woman.

Meanwhile Natalie and Miata both discussed the odds of a half-yoma staying in one place for so long. Miata sighed as Natalie too, fell asleep and left Miata to sort out the guards’ night watch. Once Miata was finished she rested for a little while, the howling of wolves in her mind as she closed her eyes.

The dark ominous clouds continued to gather in the sky and the wolf pack that had been following the Rabonese were beginning to lose their interest and were more concerned with finding some actual food. The animals knew that there was a storm going to come and they fled up to higher ground like the rest of the animals in the area. It was going to be rough and the wolves knew it. Hiding from the impending storm now was more important, as instinct told them that if they strayed too close to lower ground then they would die.

The royal procession moved onwards in to the mountain and Natalie saw more breath taking scenery, the dark clouds not as dark now that the sun was rising up in to the sky. Natalie thought about everything that had come to pass and she noticed that their guide was nervous and jumpy, as if there was something that was bothering him. Natalie strained her ears and she couldn’t hear the howls of wolves anymore. She didn’t think much of it and keep looking at the amazing sights that were the Parabaro Mountains. She was sure that the guide was just nervous because he was in the company of so called Claymores and didn’t think much about the silent mountain and what it could possibly mean. Her inexperience was going to teach her a hard lesson soon, one that was certainly not going to be forgotten anytime soon.

Chloey had felt it strongly, two yoki were moving steadily towards Lido and they were two yoki that she had detected as being near Paburo, nothing that she needed to worry about as they were warriors. Now that they knew the Organization had fallen, Chloey wasn’t as tense about where the warriors were heading, now it was more out of curiosity than the need to know their whereabouts. She simply focused on sensing their position and working out where it was that they were going to. She guessed that they would reach Lido, and hadn’t worried overly much about it. Chloey again looked up to the sky and she knew that a storm was going to pour down soon. The deer had fled to higher ground and Kate was sulking about not being in Lido, or higher ground as she was saying to Chloey in the odd way of animal communication. Chloey decided to send Kate back to Lido while she and Chris went looking for some wood to repair the church roof and doors with the likely hood of humans in the lower parts of Lido needing shelter from the storm that was going to come.

Kate was glad to be safely heading home again, but she didn’t want to leave Chloey’s side willingly. She trusted Chloey and now her mistress was sending her home with meat on her back. The wolf whined and Chloey hugged her gently,    
“Home Kate,” she said firmly

Kate had turned and left her, the wolf was worried about her mistress; she didn’t want harm to come to her lady while she wasn’t there to keep her safe. In her mind was all the times that she’d been protected by Chloey from all the way back as a small white wolf pup and she wasn’t about to forget the love that was shared. Kate moved as swiftly as she could, not knowing that her mistress wouldn’t be too far behind.

Meg had been sweeping with little success when a loud howl caught her attention,

“Claire,” Meg all but yelled, “Claire, it’s Kate, she’s here!”

Claire was out in an instant,

“I see her Meg,” Claire replied, “here, Kate, come on girl, Kate, Kate,”

Meg could hear the wolf’s claws on the stone and was relieved to hear the wolf arrive. But there were two sounds that were missing and Meg said slowly,

“Chloey sent her home,”

She didn’t need physical eyes to know that Claire was worried however the two trusted the small warrior so they took the meat in and prepared some of it more so that it would be ready to be eaten and waited for their young Captain’s return. Meg did everything in her power not to think about why Chloey had sent the white wolf home without her and as Meg nervously chewed the inside of her mouth, she did the best that she could do. She used her ears to hear even the slightest of sounds that would announce Chloey and Chris’ safe return to Lido.

Slowly the water began to drizzle and the sun was blocked from view as Chloey and Chris gathered the last of the wood that they needed. Chloey looked up into the sky and knew at once that it was time to head back to Lido, and fast. She knew that the storm was going to come down hard and as she looked at Chris it was as if the same message had passed between them without the need of words to be spoken.

Natalie had been half sleeping in the carriage when she heard the plat-splat of rain falling on to the carriage roof. Miata was calmly riding alongside the carriage still and the guards were calm. Natalie stared in wonder as she watched the changes in the sky, the dark clouds becoming more ominous as the day wore on, the rain gradually getting heavier as they climbed higher. They had slowed down to a walk, with the horses getting skittish and nervous. Miata’s chestnut was shaking its head and snorting, while the large carriage horses were plodding along calmly, which surprised Natalie, since Miata’s horse had been quiet up until now.

Natalie looked out of the window in an effort to see what was happening outside the carriage and to see where they were and she could make out the vague shapes of the trees as they moved past them. She could barely see much further than a few sword lengths away and she tried to see as far as she could. There was little to pass the time and Natalie could hear the guards muttering something about ‘bad’ weather. They pressed on higher and higher through the mountain pass, Natalie wondering how the sun could become so covered up like it was and as she thought that she might stretch out, the carriage was jolted sharply and she heard something snap. And felt one end of the carriage sink down rather suddenly. The next thing that she heard was the grunts of exertion from some of the men and as she made her way carefully towards the door, she was careful not to move to suddenly, lest she throw the carriage out of balance,

“Is everyone ok?” Natalie called,

“We’re all fine Princess,” the head of the human guard responded while he made sure that the door was open enough for Natalie to get out of the carriage, “however it would seem that the carriage is not.”

She looked towards the back of the carriage and wanted nothing more than to look away again, the sight was more than enough to worry her with the thought as to how they were going to get it fixed.

“The axle is broken Your Highness,” the young guide said sadly, “I doubt that there are any who could fix it for miles around,”

Miata came over to the young man and he looked sadly away,

“We may have to make it to the next town on foot,” Miata summarised rather calmly, and the young guide spoke with certainty,

“I doubt that there is a town big enough to be able to do such work as fixing an axle of that size…as far as I know however, Lido isn’t much further from here, it would take about two days on foot to reach it from here, though as far as I know there might not be anyone there anymore…”

“We know different, now please lead the way boy,” Miata half growled while the young guide cringed noticeably, “We are not here to waste time. Can somebody please get a horse for Princess Natalie?”

The two carriage horses were un-hitched from the carriage and a saddle was placed on one of them. The rain poured down even faster than before and Natalie knew that her dress was going to get soaked. She bravely got on to the horse, not knowing what it was that made her nervous until the creature turned to look her in the eye. Its bay face regarded Natalie with a kindness that she wasn’t expecting, the pretty white star half hidden under its long forelock. The mane was plaited to keep it from catching in the reins and Natalie found herself feeling at ease. She decided that she didn’t want to refer to it as horse so she said,

“What is this lovely creature’s name?”

The carriage driver hobbled over to her and said with a smile, “This here horse is called Misty and there ain’t be a kinder creature than her in Queen Miria’s stables ‘cept Beaux over there, but he’s a bit of a handful some o’ the time Miss, you don’ have ta worry Miss, ol’ Misty will keep ya safer than a baby she will,”

Natalie smiled and said rather happily,

“Many thanks,”

And the old driver grinned in return and made his way to the highly spirited Beaux, his calm voice soothing the stallion so that they could get packs on to his back,

“Easy now lad, there ain’t no trouble about, easy Beaux, easy boy,”

And the whole affair was over in a few minutes, the stallion calmly walking behind the old driver with the rest of the guard looking relieved that they didn’t have to handle the horse.

Natalie lightly taped Misty’s sides with her heals and the mare calmly walked forward, her gait easy for Natalie to sit to, as if the bay mare was bred to be ridden. Natalie had never felt such a smooth gait before, and as she focused on everything that Renée had told her about riding, she soon found herself understanding why Miria loved going out for a ride on her grey horse so much. It was fun, and next time Natalie was at home, she decided that she would always ride Misty whenever the opportunity arose.

The rain didn’t let up and as they kept moving, Natalie noticed that the road was in even worse shape then what she was expecting. Camping in a cave was a wise idea, it kept them out of the rain and it gave Natalie time to catch her breath and a chance to try to get warm and dry, although that was the least of her worries. The young guide seemed to know things about the mountain that the Rabonese didn’t know and as they settled down for the night, Natalie began to wonder if she was making the right choice to push on in the morning.

Chloey and Chris arrived in Lido just as the rain started to come down to what would be called rain in Chloey’s book. The droplets were wetting the road and it looked like it was going to be hard to get much in the way of supplies for the better off families of Lido. Both Chloey and Chris headed over to the old church building that had been standing since Chloey had deserted the Organization. Chris skilfully set to work while Chloey took all of the broken pieces of wood and he told her whether or not they were worth keeping. The ones that were, he fixed, and the ones that weren’t he used the pile of wood to make a new piece. Meg and Claire were with them, steadily working on the church doors when a small child came in,

“Lilly, what’s the matter?” Chloey said, seeing Lilly tremble with fright,

“I’m scared,” said the little girl, running over to Chloey and burying her small face in to Chloey’s waist, her long red hair was wet and she was just as wet, “Papa said that he needs me to stay with you for a little while, but ‘Via didn’t want to come, she wanted to be with Mama,”

“I see,” Chloey said calmly, “how about you help me with these?”

“Ok!” Lilly exclaimed happily, and Chloey carefully handed the small girl the single lightest bit of wood that she had.

The work on the doors was almost finished when Lord Rufus and his wife and other daughter arrived with Teresa and her husband. Rufus quickly got on to helping out Chris while Jillian helped Chloey with getting the fire going in the main hall. Chloey had cleaned out the church’s main hall to give it enough room for people should they need to stay out of their homes. She was lucky that she’d half started the work. Maidservants arrived to help make Chloey’s task even easier and she began by giving each of them tasks to do. Luciela ran about like a child, playing with Lilly and Octavia to help give Jillian a break, while Meg and Claire were working with Luciela’s old frail mother to get some meat ready for the sure crowd that was going to seek refuge in the church building. Ana, as Luciela’s mother was called wore her grey hair in a loose bun at the back of her neck and was a wise woman, having known Chloey when she was still a girl, and looking at her, Chloey knew that if she wasn’t a half-yoma then she would be just like Ana with children almost all grown up. Yet the two held a firm friendship that most of the other maids didn’t get, but they respected Ana’s authority and would come to her if Chloey wasn’t around to answer their questions of tasks that they were given. Mostly though it was only if there was a new girl working that any questions were raised, most of them knew what to expect and worked easily with one another and would playfully have fun while learning about Meg and Claire.

More people started to arrive as the rain fell harder from the sky. By the time night had fallen, Chloey counted no fewer than half of Lido’s population in the main hall. Mostly it was the poorer families that were huddled together, their children staring wide eyed at the more better off children for a while before they all decided to play for a little while together until the food was ready. Chloey could sense the two warriors were on the move again and she hastened to get in to her amour. She doubted that they were here for a fight, but it was for the best as far as she was concerned so that she would have less trouble dealing with them if they were there to fight.

As she clanked down the church steps nearly everyone looked up at her. Not one of the humans here had seen her in her Organization amour, save for Ana and they all stared openly, mouths half dropped to the floor with surprise and shock. And Chloey knew that it was hard not to stare at her when she was dressed the way that she was currently dressed. 

Her large shoulder pauldrons emphasized her broad shoulders as they jutted out from her shoulders, with a rise in the underside so that she had freedom to mover her arms as she pleased. Her claymore resting in the holster on her back like almost every day, except it was no longer held by a leather strap, it was now held in place by the pauldrons. Chloey’s metal boots reached to just below her knees and were clasped at the front to keep them from falling off, and a piece of extra metal was wedged between both sides of the clasp so that it was a firm fit. Another piece of metal attached the rounded toe of her boot to the heal, giving the top part of her foot some protection, but leaving her ankle with a single layer of metal to protect it. Her cape covered her sword somewhat, but it was really there just for show as well as her upper leg amour, which could carry small things for missions that she had once gone on. To the human eye Chloey was terrifying and it was this amour that was infamous during the time that the Organization was in operation, the grey coloured body suit, the minimal protection of her vital areas, yet the oddness of her appearance kept humans away from her. Now though, Lilly and Octavia both ran over to her, stopping short of her, eyes wide as they saw the clothing that Chloey had once worn as a warrior. In their eyes Chloey looked like a warrior, though they still felt safe around her, they were also acutely aware of something not being right, something had to be wrong for their heroine to dress like this. Chloey’s usually free hair was drawn up in to a ponytail and every waited to see what Chloey was going to do next. Chloey for her part said not a word and walked to the newly fixed doors. Everyone waited to see what was going to happen next with their breath held.


	6. V: Strange Encounter Pt 5

_ An extract from Chloey deLupia’s Diary _

I waited…I should have known that wearing my amour was going to have that sort of affect, that they’d all be reminded of what I was, of the terror that their parents’ parents had instilled in them, they all stared at me for hours, even though I was still myself. It was a relief in some ways, I was fully as ready as I could be and as more people came in, I remained still in the alcove waiting for the warriors. Their progress was slow and I knew that it was possible that they had humans with them and the current down pour wasn’t good. Lily and Octavia were both determined to sit near me, as if trying to single handily prove to everyone that they were both brave enough to sit near a scary “Claymore” like me in my full amour and that I wasn’t as scary as they thought I was.

I could hear Meg and Claire talking to each other about the possibility that I was in my old amour for a reason, but they didn’t know what I did. It was far better to dress as a warrior to make sure that I was less likely to get in to a fight with the young ones, in theory at least. I was focusing on the yoki in the area and I was sure that for some reason there was some coming from Marchello’s mansion, but I wasn’t overly sure yet as I was far too focused on what was coming to Lido, not what was in Lido. I would deal with the yoki in Lido when I was ready to and not before as I had long since learned as a warrior. Even if it was to do with Marchello, I would leave it for now. There was no point on getting worked up on Marchello's doings now, I had to focus on the task at hand and leave it at that.

I let a few more jumpy residents in and as I got to focus enough on the two yoki that were heading this way I felt a whole variety of emotions from both of them. The younger of the two being saddened and worried about something, they must have reached the lower parts of Lido or perhaps they were a good seven hundred sword lengths away. I sighed and settled in to the cold, I didn’t need to stay in the main part of the church, there was no point at the moment and I wasn’t ready to head back in anyway. I had long since decided to keep watch and if at all possible to meet the warriors head on, without the people of Lido in the way where they could get injured if things went sour; or even killed and that was a risk that I wanted to avoid at all costs if I could ever do it. I had been a top warrior for a reason and just because it was said that the Organization was said to have fallen, didn’t mean that they were gone completely, I knew enough to be cautious as I could. I also knew that it was going to be hard work that would see the results that were to be had.

_ Entry End _

The small children huddled close to their mothers as more people filed past Chloey who kept her ears as sharp as they had been when she was a young warrior. Not a single person felt good about seeing her in her old Organization amour and they knew it had to be serious for Chloey to even think to dress like she was, they had all heard the tales of what her Organization amour looked like and to actually see it made them all even more jumpy, they knew that Chloey was once a warrior and it was as if it was a pure killer that was standing in the door and not the gentle woman that they had come to know and trust so deeply. It was as if she was gone and what remained was just a warrior, someone as dead as could be. Meg and Claire made sure there were enough blankets to go around the families and Chris spent his time fixing holes in the roof and other small needed repairs. Still the humans looked towards the small woman, nervous until she turned to actually look at them. It was then that they saw her true face, the face of one who had much that she wanted to protect and defend willingly with her very life. Soon everyone calmed down and talk resumed comfortably as the young children who were sitting near Chloey were carefully lifted up and carried closer to the warm fire and placed with their pregnant mother. Lido’s claymore hadn’t changed in her heart; it was still the same as before.

No one knew what Chloey was thinking and she didn’t talk at all. Ana moved around as quickly as she could and her daughter Luciela made sure that everyone was comfortable as her mother had taught her. Ana made sure that the whole church smelled wonderful and was as warm as it could be. Chris having plugged up the last of the drafts sat down by Meg and listened to Meg and Claire’s worried bickering about why Chloey had her amour on again. Kate trotted away from the large warm fire to sit by her mistress’ side, something that she had done since she was but a small puppy, now though Kate was a large fully grown wolf and had been with Chloey for many years, and even the villagers lost count of exactly how old the white wolf was. Most had known of Kate since they could remember and Chris had known that Chloey had Kate with her before they even met. As he looked at his wife he was almost sure that there was something that she was hiding, her yoki was as suppressed as ever and he was sure that it was to sense out the incoming warriors, and it was about as accurate as he could have guessed since he could only sense as far as a hundred sword lengths away, while Chloey could sense thousands of sword lengths away with ease. She had sensed the awakened ones fighting over land and reported those that made it. It failed to surprise Chris that Chronos survived along with Lars at the time. They didn’t live long before they were both as good as dead, along with any yoma that had headed their way as Chloey told him that as far as she knew it was a massacre for the awakened beings.

Chris stretched out lazily and listened to the soft chatter around himself, his eyes drifting towards Chloey and then he must have fallen asleep.

The wind and the rain picked up and it wasn’t long before Natalie thought that she might need a new dress since the one that she was wearing was soaked right through. Natalie’s hair stuck to her face and it was going to be a long trip. Misty’s sides were warm and the heat from the mare was enough to help Natalie fight the cold. The road was slippery and the guide was walking slowly, his cloak pulled close to his body as he shivered ahead of them. Natalie used some of her yoki and the visibility wasn’t that great. Miata was riding next to her, and her horse was acting skittish and frightened of something. Misty just kept calmly walking along calmly, as if she was aware that she needed to go as carefully as possible. The old carriage driver wasn’t lying when he said that Misty was one of the quietest horses of the stables, she just kept walking along calmly carrying Natalie ever closer to Lido.

They had a near miss late in the afternoon when a guard nearly fell to what would have been his death, if Miata hadn’t acted as quickly as she did. The man was shivering, not just from cold and Natalie heard from the young guide that Lido was still several sword lengths away, at least a thousand more to travel before they were even a third of the way to the centre of Lido. Natalie chose to go on, but she was left to wonder about what the trip was possibly going to cost them, if they failed to do what she’d set out for in the first place. Natalie cold only hope that there were no more hitches for this trip and that things would get better as they travelled on, she was aware that the report had said that Lido was a wonderful place to stay. Natalie urged the men to stay close to the mountain side as they could for their own safety, while Misty seemed to know what she was doing and Natalie hoped that they would arrive there soon.

After several hours of journeying, they arrived to dilapidated gates, and the guide stepped back,

“This is as far as I can take you,” he said shaking and shrinking back, “I’m not going any further, I value my life far too much and I’m needed home,”

Miata went to talk sense into him, but the young man clean ran off, Natalie could have swore that it was fear that drove him to run like that. She shook her head, “Don’t worry, we’ll keep going forwards, this must be Lido,”

Her words were met with surprise, but as Natalie nudged Misty’s sides the mare calmly clopped through the gates, and at last on to a paved road, her hooves making loud clopping, a sign that her shoes were ringing on flat stone. This seemed to calm the guards down and they continued into the city. Miata’s horse snorted and tossed its head, as if afraid of something and Miata called for a halt,

“Strong, the scent of warriors, one far surpasses the others,” Miata spoke, she was shaking slightly, “she…she could defeat Queen Miria,”

“We’ll be fine Miata,” Natalie smiled, “perhaps it would be best to meet this warrior with every sign that we mean no harm, who knows, she might The Silent Chloey,”

Natalie’s hope was well founded, having sensed them since they’d travelled from Rabona, little did Natalie know the warrior she spoke of was well aware that they were there, it was her husband and comrades that were unaware of the young women’s presence, but they soon would be. As Natalie and Miata drew closer, Meg, the next most capable of reading yoki over distance because she was blind sensed them coming. She now knew what it was that had set Chloey to wait in the cold, and as she turned her head towards her sister, Claire, Meg knew that her sister’s weaker senses weren’t the only reason they were lucky that Chloey was with them. Chris tilted his head as he finally sensed what Chloey had sensed well before them all, both he and Claire had the same sized range, neither were as sharp as the yet to find her limit of sensing Chloey, she always knew who was where and what was going on. Claire looked at Meg, and Meg spoke,

“Two of ‘em one’s a single digit, the other one might be, but she’s too young to tell,”

“The young one is most likely a double digit in power, she’s weak, the older one is a top five,” Chloey said from her perch in the alcove, her quiet voice carrying, “even so, they are warriors that I can hold off if need be, so don’t worry,”

The people of Lido looked from Meg to Chloey and back again,

“Ok, we’ll wait until the signal like always,” Meg replied and the humans heaved a sigh of relief, at least Chloey could take the warriors on if she needed to. Though Chloey would never admit it, the people of Lido cared deeply for her and they owed her a good deal, several men talked to themselves about how they could get the small woman to be the next mayor of Lido, not because of the beautiful dress that lay locked away in the vault that hadn’t seen the light of day in nearly two hundred years, or the amethyst tiara that went with it, but the fact that Chloey’s actions would be more understood by the rest of the area at large. Also having seen Chloey when she was furious made it clear that she could get things done when she really wanted them to be done. Marchello, as the men whispered, really lacked the humility that Chloey had, the fact that she had turned down the role of mayor last time hadn’t gone unnoticed by some of the residents, and despite Chloey’s protests, they knew that she was the only way forwards if Lido wanted to get back to where they were when the small woman was a child.

Meanwhile Natalie felt saddened by what she was seeing. Houses were run down and in bad need of repair, and it was clear that humans were still living among them, but the houses made Natalie wonder what it was that would cause such hardship as this to Lido. As she rode Misty onwards it was clear that the more she travelled through the town, the worse it got in some places. As Miata’s horse walked along side Misty, Natalie was busy working out what was going on and they came to a stop in the centre of the town. The fountain had a lovely looking woman holding a sceptre in one hand and a large book in the other and it was right in the centre of the town, the water making it look as if the statue was crying with sadness from the pain of the people that lived in the town. Natalie looked around her and as she did so, the buildings seemed to look just the same to her. There was a ghost of a path, it wasn’t overly wide and it looked well kept. As she looked up she saw that it led to a mansion, the forbidding building making her shiver for some reason that she didn’t know.

They continued down the main street towards the western end of the town and then turned left on to what looked like a crossroad they followed the paved road and came across an incline that lead them higher and higher. Natalie followed the incline and after a hundred sword lengths she and the guard arrived to what looked like a small church building, where Miata was sure that people were actually there because she said, “They are here,”

The Rabonese were about to enter the church yard when the clanking of amour caught their attention from the building towards their left. As Natalie turned she was almost face to face with a small woman whose long pale blond hair was pulled back in to a low ponytail with bangs resting half way down her face. She was calm and as she looked up, it was clear to Natalie that she was a half yoma warrior. Her silver eyes were framed with thick lashes and were almost childlike as well as her face, however for as young as she looked there was an air about her that was sure to make Natalie feel unskilled next to a warrior like this small woman and Natalie had little doubt that this woman was stronger than her adoptive mother, not only as a warrior but as a leader as well. Natalie went to speak, but the woman’s soft voice carried, and she was far from being as loud as what Natalie would have been,

“Turn your horses loose, Gineve will lead them to safety,” as she spoke a black mare appeared, calm as day and waited patiently for them to take the gear off of the horses. Misty walked up to Gineve, as the horse was so called and it seemed that the two were making friends. Natalie watched as the Rabonese horses left with the black one and then followed the small woman inside the building nervous since it seemed to her that the horses were going somewhere that Natalie couldn’t follow.

Once inside the air was warm and as she looked around, Natalie noticed that there were a lot of people there. The children all looked up, but none made any move to leave their mothers for the time being. The warrior’s amour clanked as she walked about and Natalie wondered if she was cold as she was emitting absolutely no yoki what so ever and Natalie thought that it was silly not to use it to get warm. She continued to follow the small warrior until she was lead to a flight of stairs. Natalie carefully used the stair beam to support herself on the way up so that she didn’t trip over her dress which was dripping water everywhere and no one seemed to care too much about it. She was surprised to see a whole group of people waiting for them all. Natalie looked at each of the people there and they all seemed content to keep doing what they were doing. It was only now that the small warrior chose to speak again,

“Sister Anne, could you see to it that our guests are dried before the stew is served please, I’ll inform Father Joshua that we will need more blankets and I’ll see what Ana says about getting some fresh clothing for them,”

The woman that the small warrior was talking to wore a simple black habit with the head piece coming down to just below her shoulders. She looked to barely be about 16 years old and had a kind face about her,

“Of course Lady Chloey,” she said, “I’ll be sure to let the other sisters know at once,”

As she said this; an old woman arrived, clearly she was in charge, her face was lined with many wrinkles, and her strangely hazel eyes glittering as what light there was touched her face. She was old and Natalie knew that she had lived a long time,

“I’m sure that we will manage Sister Anne, Luciela and I have enough clothing for our guests and Father Joshua is with Father Samuel, Sister Joan is helping with the food, we’ll need you to help with the young ones if you can,” she said gently and Natalie barely noticed the grey bun in her hair down the nape of her neck that was larger than any bun she’d ever seen before.

“Of course,” the young nun smiled and waked down the stairs. Natalie heard a chorus of “Sister Anne,” and childish laughter.

Natalie was lead in to a warm room and the old woman set about getting a dress that fitted Natalie properly,

“Pray child, what is your name?” She asked pleasantly,

“I’m Princess Natalie, from Rabona,”

“Ah…I see, such a long risky journey to make dear, the weather here is both violent and unpredictable at this time of year, it is usually unwise to make sure a journey, but praise the Lord of Rabona that you were kept safe,” she was gentle and kind. Natalie found herself relaxing as the old woman gently dried her waist length near strawberry blond hair carefully undoing the ponytail that it was it to see to it that it was dried properly, “Luciela child, please help the other lady,”

“Yes Mama,” Natalie looked at the girl that was standing in the doorway, her long chestnut mane of hair flowed down both sides of her face, but didn’t reach much more than her shoulders, but as she turned Natalie realised that it was just her bangs that reached her shoulders, the rest of her hair was down to her knees and was drawn back in to a low ponytail. It was impressive to see hair that long and before Natalie knew it, her red and gold dress was hung up over near a small fire while the older lady chatting away about Lido, and Natalie listened as she told her of the history, something that they didn’t have in Rabona. She was now in a light pink dress with a high warm neck that helped to keep her warm, it was beautiful and despite being light weight was actually quite warm and lovely,

“So you work for Lady Chloey deLupia?” Natalie asked,

“Hehehe, why if you put it like that I suppose I do, I knew her when she was a child and I can tell you that Lido should  _ never _ have let her go…yoma victim or not because barely five years after she left, she came back to Lido and lifted it up from the brink and it wasn’t going to be for the first time either and I do believe that we still owe her a fair apology, but the current mayor won’t think of being humble enough to do it, but it would do us well to remember that Chloey is our only huntress left, the last of a long line of hunters. deLupia are the hunters and leaders of Lido, take care to remember that Princess, even if they, like Lady Chloey refuse to take on leadership of the council, it is a deLupia like Chloey that gives her family a good name,” Ana smiled and Natalie noticed that she had gotten a rather pretty looking hair brush. Natalie didn’t even feel Ana’s gentle fingers gather up her hair, or even that Ana was brushing it. Her hair was light and dry now and as she looked in to the large mirror, she could see that Ana was easily pulling her hair back up into a ponytail. It was done before Natalie had time to think about Ana doing it was so nice that Natalie wanted to just relax. The dress was soft and nice and the fire was warm, and as she relaxed Natalie felt content at least for a little while.


	7. VI: Strange Encounter Part VI

Things seemed to be peaceful for now as Chloey made her way down to the hall again. It was about as good as what she could manage after seeing to it that the Rabonese were made as comfortable as possible. If the humans were anything to go by it seemed that there was little to worry about, however Chloey knew far better. She always had some worry or another on her mind and in her heart that it was near impossible to sleep and it had been that way for a very long time. She would always worry now that there were people that she knew well whose children had grown up with a so called ‘Claymore’ and had come to see the true face that Chloey herself had spent her entire life hiding and protecting from everyone.

Chloey looked around the room and carefully kept her eyes peeled for wherever Chris might just be. She hadn’t been feeling the best and being with him made her feel a little better at least. Her amour clanked as she moved about the room, humans all waiting impatiently for the meal to be served and children nearly running in to other people. Chloey felt a sad smile on her face and sighed inwardly. She was going to need to be near the fire, for some reason the cold air affecting her somewhat. She had always been able to stave it off without the use of her yoki, but now…Chloey didn’t know what was going on and she shook her head. At least Kate was good company for now.

Claire was softly arguing with Meg over something and it wasn’t long before Chloey made her way over to them. Even her sensitive ears had their limits, but at least she knew where they were. Meg would have been surprised if Chloey couldn’t find them, her ability to read yoki being far more powerful and potent than what most warriors had. Chloey however was quiet which allowed some hearing, though Meg doubted that it really helped her that much. Claire looked worriedly at the small warrior and there was something in the way that she was standing that said clearly something was up, at least in her mind and it was a look that Claire knew far too well. Chloey was stressed about something and like normal; she was hiding it to the best of her abilities.

“Chloey are you ok?” Claire asked her smaller comrade,

“I’ll be fine,” Chloey smiled weakly, for a moment her mole disappeared, but then it was back as the smile faded, “I feel as if there are yoma in Lido, and I don’t like it.”

Claire looked at Chloey as she said this and a frown appeared on her face. It wasn’t like Chloey to say something like that, but if she was saying it and she was as sure as she was then what the small warrior was meaning…

“Earth to Claire, hey, is the food ready yet, some of the kids are getting restless,” Meg half called, “Anyway, I don’t know about you Chloey, but I’m sure that we’ll get to the bottom of all this. Maybe if you had something to drink…”

“No, I’m fine,” Chloey’s usually soft tone was sharp and pointed, much unlike herself, “I need to find Chris.”

Claire wondered what was up with Chloey as she walked about the room. Something was as good as wrong for her to be like that, as she kept shifting from foot to foot. Chloey seemed to be irritated and it wasn’t long before Ana arrived, a young half yoma following her. The half yoma child looked somewhat familiar to Chris and as he walked over towards Ana, he became acutely aware that he’d seen that girl before. The rest of the Lidoians were now all seated and waiting for the beginning of what was to be something to eat. Chris walked over to Chloey and she gave him a half-exasperated look and then turned to face the young warrior,

“So you are the one foolish enough to travel to Lido in the most horrendous of storms.” Chloey said, with the very air that Chris knew was sure to result in a sound telling off for the poor girl Chloey was never that volatile, normally she was pleasant to be around and easy to get along with, not snappy and irritated like she was now. Something had to be making her annoyed to have that sort of effect on her personality,

“Yes I am,” the girl replied, “though I wouldn’t be called a fool over it because we were guided here in this weather.”

Chloey’s eyes narrowed but she said nothing. It was an odd display of temper control from her that Chris had rarely seen, he stayed close to her should she lose her temper, but Ana seemed to have the upper hand,

“They’re almost finished Lady Chloey.” Ana stated calmly.

“Anastasia!” Chloey gasped, “How many times have I told you not to call me that!”

Chloey’s voice was high-pitched and almost furious again,

“Forgive me, my friend, but when I am at work, that is how I must refer to you.” Ana replied,

“Over my dead body!” Chloey cried aloud enough to be heard by everyone in the church and she quickly went red. It was most unlike Chloey to be so loud. She cleared her throat loudly and said, “See to it that the food is served please Annie.” she looked at the girl sharply and Chris went to grab her arm to stop her from getting too angry

“You,” Chloey said with effort to be calm, “Rest by the fire, there’s no point in wasting your yoki to keep warm, and if you haven’t eaten I will have Annie give you some dried meat.”

This was said in typical Chloey fashion and for a moment, it seemed that all would be well and Chloey would settle for a little while. However that wasn’t the case as yet another distraction came. Half bedraggled and soaking to the skin was the shivering Marcus, refusing all aid it seemed,

“Lady Chloey,” the young man coughed and Chloey turned sharply to face Marcus, coughing and almost barely able to breathe between his words, “I…I need to talk to you…alone...it’s important…”

“Upstairs now,” Chloey said firmly, “Get dry and I will see you in the upper chapel.”

Marcus nodded and coughed again and allowed Luciela to take him upstairs. Chloey looked at the young warriors and said slightly sharply, “I suggest that the two of you go near the fire, I won’t be long.”

Chris watched as Chloey headed upstairs and headed to the fire himself, though his reasons were nothing more than to see if it was still hot enough. He was worried that Chloey was about to lose her temper, although why she was going to lose it at such a critical time had him worried.

Chloey stormed upstairs as a large clap of thunder boomed through the church. When she was younger, the thunder used to scare her, now that she was older, the most it did was make her jump when it was loud in her sensitive ears, and she nearly lost her footing as she did just that. Shaking her head, she took a deep breath and continued to the upper chapel. Father Samuel was there, praying like usual. Chloey felt a weak smile, he was as afraid as she was when it came to thunder and she said softly, “Be at ease, the storm won’t last that long, God has it timed well.”

Father Samuel jumped, “Lady Chloey…forgive me, I didn’t realise that you were there.”

“No matter,” Chloey sighed, “I’ll need to talk to Marcus soon.”

“Of course, I was about to head down stairs,” he smiled and straightened himself out a bit more, “If there is anything else you need, please don’t hesitate to ask it of us.”

Chloey waited until Father Samuel was out of the chapel before resting in the stiff backed chair at the large desk, holding the book that had been in Lido for centuries, well before the Organization had existed. A quick glance told her that Father Samuel had left it open and she looked at the passage contained within, __the Lord is good and he is great, Let the light shine and let us have hope for the day that he shall return__. Chloey sighed and continued reading through the hymns that she’d sung as a child, there was one particular one that she liked, one that made her feel warm and safe. As Chloey looked at it, the pages giving off that wondrous old book scent that she could enjoy much more than what she would have if she were still human. As she continued to wait for Marcus there was yet another clap of thunder and she jumped, amour clanking loudly as she near panicked for a moment. Chloey looked out of the window and watched, as the rain grew stronger, the sound of harsh plops of water would make it hard now for the rest of the humans down stairs to hear what was being said.

Natalie heard the loud clap of thunder and thought that she felt a very weak spike in yoki that was completely unfamiliar to her, but it was gone as soon as she felt it. She’d done as the warrior had commanded, not wanting to make her more angry than what she seemed to be, Miata was wary around her and Natalie figured that she’d do what she could not to get on the wrong side of this woman. Clearly, she was a force to be reckoned with and one that wasn’t to be disturbed. But she didn’t understand why that was the case in the first place, but she let it go for now.

As Chloey sat in the upper chapel, she thought through everything that had happened and decided that she was going to have to try to cool down. She’d been close to losing her temper and if that wasn’t bad enough, she didn’t know what was. As she turned the pages of the old book, Chloey got a sense for what was the tradition of the Lidoian people before she was born and she could see her father living in a much different world than what the people had now. She turned the page to near the end of the book and nearly fell down. It was the one hymn that meant the world to her, the very one that she’d written herself in her small journal, neatly copied by Father Jacob obviously after she’d shown it. It was the one hymn that she’d written and it was sung on her wedding day, she was sure that it was Chris and Father Jacob’s idea to do that to her, and most of the people of Lido had enjoyed Chloey’s wedding after years of her putting it off. It was a strange situation for nearly everyone involved. Certainly it was the longest engagement that had ever happened in Lido, mostly because Chloey was still working as a warrior and because she was busily trying to get as many of her comrades safe as possible…she shook her head as the door opened to reveal a neatly re-dressed Marcus. He was shaking and Chloey had never in all the years that she’d known the child seen him like this,

“Marcus, what is it…are you ok?” Chloey swiftly walked over to the young man and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, intending to lift his face up when he muttered,

“My father has done something really terrible.” he wouldn’t look up, and Chloey could see that he was shaking like a leaf,

“What do you mean Marcus?” Chloey asked, worried because Marcus was shaking badly,

“He…he…he has a whole lot of girls locked away…and they said he hurt them…told me not to tell anyone because he’d hurt them worse…they were scared!” Marcus finally looked up and Chloey saw that he was crying, tears of horror and fury, “He’s been getting away with it since Mother died! All those girls some barely even old enough to marry! I had no idea! He…he...”

Chloey realised in half an instant and she said coldly, “Enough for now, I will sort him out if what you are saying is true.”

“BUT IT IS TRUE! I SAW IT!”

“Be calm Marcus,” Chloey said sharply, “I’ll need evidence to stop him, something that will not take me long, I know that you have told me the truth Marcus, I can tell when humans lie. I will do what I can. Perhaps I can convince the Rabonese to do something about it, that is all I can do for now with my hands as tied as they are.”

Marcus’ tears didn’t subside and Chloey gave him a firm but comforting hug, “I promise you Marcus, I will look into it as soon as I get the opportune time to catch your father off guard. I know that it is hard, but he will stumble, now rest by the fire and have something to eat.”

“I don’t feel like it.” Marcus huffed and Chloey firmly griped his shoulder, not enough to hurt but enough to pull him into line,

“You had better eat something to help keep you from getting sick.” Chloey said, more out of concern than anything else,

“Okay.” Marcus said when he saw the look on her face, he knew better than to test the woman that had cared for him when he was just a tiny boy.

As Chloey walked down the stairs again, she was overcome with a sick like feeling from the depths of her stomach, but she ignored it figuring that a small bowl of food would clear that up in a heartbeat. At least she was hoping so.

As Chloey sat by the fire eating a small bowl of food, she began to feel a little better. It was nice to have a little bit of the stew and as she looked around she could see that the Rabonese were settling in near some of the Lidoians that she had seen grow up from small children to what they were now. Chloey was balancing the bowl on one hand when a nasty BOOM sounded and she half jumped again,

“Fuck it!” she hissed softly, “Does the weather have to be so horrible.”

“Dear me, that’s not how a brave Captain talks,” Meg giggled suddenly filling the chair to Chloey’s left, “especially since she was supposed to be over that fear now.”

“Enough Meg,” Chloey sighed, resigned to some of Meg’s notorious teasing but not all of it, “you know as well as I do that I hate it when it’s loud like this.”

“Sure thing,” Meg teased, “a real sure thing, right Claire.”

“Meg come on, leave Chloey alone.”

It seemed that Natalie had come over, Chloey having eaten what she needed heaved a sigh and stretched, the bowl near falling out of her hand had Claire not been quick enough to get it and Chloey yawned loudly. She knew that it was near time for her over active body to rest. She got up, half stumbled towards Chris and half fell into his arms with him saying worriedly, “Chloey, are you ok.” before she faded into the land of dreams.

Chris held his small wife up awkwardly as she seemed asleep, and what perfect timing, the poor woman clonking out after what was a drastic week of no sleeping for her. He sighed and saw that Father Samuel beckoned to him and he followed the young priest, Meg and Claire behind him as well as the two young warriors that had travelled from Rabona, one slightly younger than the other not by as much as they had first thought. The room that they entered was large enough for several people, not that Chris cared that much, rest was beyond the older warrior and Chloey was murmuring in her sleep again. Chris lay her down on the nearest bed and Chloey's white wolf, Kate had come clearly looking for Chloey. Chris sighed and the wolf jumped up onto the bed just as she did at home, her head on Chloey’s hip like normal as his wife had rolled over to her right side. Kate’s jewel green eyes half closed and the wolf made a half sigh of her own. Chris sighed and turned his attention to the two young warriors.

Natalie looked at the older warriors, surprised that the man looked so familiar to her. His short hair rested above his eyebrows and he had an eyebrow piercing on his left eyebrow. His silver eyes were intense and searching, clearly, he was far older than any warrior that was in that room and yet Natalie knew that if there was a warrior that could defeat Miata, it was the sleeping warrior in the small bed, the white wolf resting on her. There were two other women, one with her long hair in ponytails that rested both in front of her shoulders as well as behind them, her wide silver eyes making her look somewhat innocent, while the other one wore her chin-length oddly gingery hair in front of her eyes so that they couldn’t be seen. Both of them were easily taller than Miata, the shorthaired one wearing a grin similar to Helen, Natalie realised with a sudden jolt, she was taller than Helen, the tallest of the two, but not by much. It was then that she realised that the man was looking at her, a serious expression on his face and an almost worried one as well,

“Care to explain why you both are here in Lido?” the man asked calmly, “It wasn’t like we were aware that warriors were even coming from Rabona in the first place.”

“I apologise for our seemly abrupt arrival, the main reason that we are here is to confirm that there really are half-yoma outside of Rabona and that there are more than what we were aware of at first glance.” Natalie replied quickly, “We…I mean I wanted to make sure that the report that was sent by the mayor of Lido was true for the benefit of my Mother.”

Miata glowered at Natalie but then Chris’ brow furrowed. Before Miata could say a word he replied, “Strategic and nothing more I see, a wiser mind once told me that to know your battle potential is to know your ability to survive.” Natalie saw Chris look at Chloey sleeping in that bed as if he was looking to the past, “It was her father that said that and never a truer word spoken than that of Thomas deLupia.”

“Thomas deLupia?” Natalie asked confused,

“Yes and the former mayor of the city until he was killed by a yoma. It was really the most shameful thing that they threw Chloey out when they did. They knew that she could have been the next mayor, but they sent both her and Kate out to make a life for themselves…they were the ones that cost Chloey being a normal human, they are the reason that she is a half-yoma at all.”

Natalie looked surprised to see the anger in Chris’ eyes as he said this and she remembered what Ana, Chloey’s handmaiden had said and looked down. Even Ana had said that the people of Lido owed Chloey a good deal, that she was the last of the “Huntress” deLupia that was still alive. Natalie looked at Miata and Miata spoke Natalie’s question, her cryptic expression somehow translated into words, “How is that so? I thought that it wasn’t by blood that a mayor was chosen.”

“I’m afraid that is how it is in Lido,” Chris sighed, “and only a deLupia can stand as a candidate, it’s in Lidoian law. Marchello doesn’t hunt, he wouldn’t even know how it was Lord Stephan that gave him mayor ship over Lido because Chloey turned it down, silly girl that she is. If she had taken it years ago, I think that Lido would be in a better position than what it is now. But that it just me and not what she thinks.”

“It doesn’t make much sense.” Miata said, frustrated because she was trying to grasp Lidoian politics, and Natalie was as confused, it seemed that the politics in Lido was just too complicated to grasp.

“If you think of it like I learned it, it isn’t so hard to understand,” the pigtails woman spoke up, “each family within Lido has a special role than they play, one family works with stone let’s say, while another specialises in glass making. Now the family that work with stone, the stonemasons cannot work with glass and the glassmakers cannot work with stone. Most of the families that are here are ill equipped to deal with the demands made of Lido’s mayor, as the mayor has to be capable of two major roles. Firstly, the ability to hunt, so far only Chloey knows the mountains well enough to catch the game that she does to bring in the funds that are necessary for Lido’s survival. Secondly, they have to be able to lead. I know for a fact that even if Chloey doesn’t see herself as much of a leader, she is a very good one, not as good as Miria, but good enough. I have seen on more than one occasion where Chloey has made a difference to the people of Lido and several of the councillors agree with me on this. Right Meg.” she turned to the gingery shorthaired warrior that almost reminded Miata of Clarice in some strange way, perhaps it was her short hair that actually had colour, rather than being just a plain blond,

“Right,” Meg nodded, “always right Claire, and I know that Chloey would never admit to it either, that girl has an aversion to leading unless she is the only one left and even then she refuses quicker than a warrior can kill a yoma.”

Chloey moaned softly in her sleep making Natalie half jump until she realised that the small warrior was still asleep,

“Oh anything will wake her up,” Claire sighed, “She is the worst sleeper ever, don’t worry she is thoroughly worn out so she should sleep at least for a little while longer.”

Meg snorted and said, “I would be too, if I had half the nightmares that she has.”

Natalie looked confused for but a moment when Meg said calmly, “honestly it has everything to do with the fact that her mind is the one place you don’t want to mess with. She is sometimes a little…odd…but usually she acts quite normal so it’s easy to forget about it, but boy oh boy does she bring you back to reality when she loses her cool, or when she gets bored which is easily done when her heart isn’t really in a task. Sometimes all she needs is a good pick-me-up,” Meg grinned, “we also do not talk about ages since she’s past caring about that…but I think I’d be pretty old now,” Meg snorted softly and the wolf sat up, growled once and rested her head back on Chloey’s hip. “Kate, well…she’s been with Chloey for a long time, she was a pup when we actually started hanging around Chloey, goodness that one must have been around 11, 12 perhaps…I have lost count of the years since then, but suffice to say that Kate has been with Chloey as long as that wolf has been alive.”

Natalie didn’t really understand, but decided to sit on another bed, rest sounding good to her for a little while at least. She was still very much confused and decided that she would wait until a chance to think it all over would present itself or that she would have the mental wind down that she needed. She knew what it was like to be a little busy in the head, but it was clear that Chloey was something else. It was a pure surprise that she was like this, as Natalie had never heard of a warrior that couldn’t actually fall asleep and most warriors slept once every couple of days, this Natalie knew because Miata and Miria were the best examples that she had who she knew of. She had erroneously assumed that Chloey was the same, but if Meg and Claire were to be trusted then that meant that Chloey only really went to sleep once a week, something that was fatal to warriors. Natalie didn’t get it and as her mind ran in constant circles, Natalie hoped that she would actually come to understand how it was possible.


End file.
